However, while we encounter PDF frequently, it doesn’t necessarily follow that it is the best method for us to use. In fact, it’s almost taken for granted that it’s just the way to do things – so we at UsabilityOne decided to investigate this further, and bring to light the real user benefits and limitations of interactive PDF forms.

You can check out our findings in our latest report, Incorporating the role of PDF in the Australian Government’s Electronic Services Delivery strategy.

Once you’ve checked out the report, make sure to tell us about your experience of using PDF by commenting here!

At UsabilityOne many of our clients often face this battle of achieving the appropriate balance between SEO and Usability so we decided to explore some of the issues in more depth and have issued our findings in our latest research report – developed with AtomicSearch .

If you are interested in this topic, you should download our report – “Combining the Forces of SEO and Usability(PDF 1.5MB)”. Over the next few weeks we will blog about some of the challenges and recommendations this report identifies.

The iPad has finally landed in Australia. Here at UsabilityOne, we’ve been following the commentary on the iPad from afar, and decided to get our hands on one so we could make up our own minds.

iPad – user testing:

So just how usable is the iPad? To find out, we conducted some usability research of our own. We asked users to complete a number of tasks that use the native apps, as well as some browsing activities.

Our preliminary findings indicate that the iPad is inherently usable. The average score attained by iPad users on our UsabilityOne Task Completion Index (TCI) compares extremely favourably with the average score for the hundreds of interfaces we have tested here at UsabilityOne.

The reaction to the iPad amongst our testing participants, which include a mix of iPhone and non-iPhone users, has been overwhelmingly positive. Users thought the device looks very slick, providing a good overall experience. The web browsing experience was particularly positive, as it feels more immersive due to the touch interaction.

Downside? People are struggling to see exactly how it will fit into their lives. It clearly is not a replacement for a desktop or laptop computer. In fact, you require one of these devices to transfer and manage content on the iPad. Mostly, the iPad has been perceived as a luxury device rather than a must-have. The most common use-cases our participants have put forward include: web browsing while sitting on the couch or using it to watch video content, things that you can already do with a laptop or netbook. Other scenarios suggested include use of the iPad in the kitchen as a recipe book or as an electronic photo frame. The touch QWERTY keyboard is seen as reasonable for typing in search phrases, URLs and short emails, but no more than that. Nobody could conceive of using the iPad to create or edit documents.

We also observed that the way in which people held the iPad is likely to impact on how they use it. Users commented that it is actually much heavier than it looks. In order to use it to watch video or read e-books for a long period of time means that – unless you have forearms like Popeye – you will need to put it down or prop it up in some way. Obviously this will impact on the most common usage scenario suggested by our test participants (i.e. sitting on the couch).

UsabilityOne’s take on the iPad

So what do we think of the iPad? Whilst a nice piece of kit, the iPad has several obvious limitations.

The keyboard limits the iPad’s potential as a business tool, and the inability of the iPad’s Safari browser to display Flash content clearly impacts on its utility. Whilst it is great as a video device, the continued decision by Apple not to support Flash means the iPad is not compatible with catch-up TV services such as the ABC’s iView. The same goes for all of the other free-to-air broadcasters’ catch-up TV services. In the UK, the BBC created a version of their iPlayer which is compatible with iPhones, and it is interesting to see that the ABC has just announced the release of an app for the iPad that will allow users to access ABC content such as iView.

Given the boom in mobile browsing, many websites are now presented in a format which is compatible with mobile phone browsers, providing an optimal experience on those devices. Our experience thus far with the iPad indicates that websites presented on its Safari browser are not modified in any way; they are the same as you would see when accessing them on a laptop or desktop computer. As touch provides the only means of interaction with websites on the iPad, there are some question marks over the compatibility of traditional website design and the iPad. Just as with the iPhone, target areas (i.e. text links, navigation) can be difficult to hit on the iPad without first zooming in. However, a consequence of zooming in is that some content drops out of view, which suggests that it is important to be even more conscious of ensuring proximity between related controls and content. Perhaps there is even an argument for creating iPad versions of websites.

Like our participants, we think the iPad would be nice to have but the fact that it does not replace your desktop or laptop computer makes it hard to justify outlaying the cash to buy one.

So, is the iPad a game changer? Its immediate success, and the fact that competitors such as Microsoft, Dell, Sony and HP are preparing their own releases into the tablet market suggests it may well be. There are great hopes that the iPad can save the newspaper industry and that it will find a niche in education as a replacement for traditional text books. It is a lot of expectation for one little tablet device. The true success of the iPad, as with the iPhone, will lie in the development of apps that exploit its capabilities and fit into people’s lifestyles. We will be eagerly watching this space.

Want more info on the usability of the iPad? Keep an eye out here for some detailed findings on this research in the near future.

Whilst it is unclear whether customers have to already have an account to benefit from most of Square’s features, this is definitely an exciting release for small retailers. Not only will small businesses such as couriers, street vendors and market stall holders be able to cheaply and easily accept credit card transactions, but larger retailers can now also offer on-the-spot transactions to rival the Apple Store’s system with minimal overhead.

Square is not yet available in Australia, but we look forward to getting our hands on it and seeing how the app works. We have recently conducted research for a number of clients looking at attitudes towards mobile payments, especially in the area of security. What we have seen is that products like Square will quite likely face a challenge when it comes to overcoming user’s perception that mobile and online payments are not secure. The behaviors we have observed suggest that, regardless of fact, people still see online transactions as carrying a higher risk than traditional transactions (yes, people will happily give their credit card to a stranger over the phone yet not enter it into a secure form on Amazon), and mobile transactions are even further out of there comfort zones. So the first step that a product like this will have to make is to ensure its design suggests safety and security, and to step users through the process and why certain steps are necessary in order to alleviate any security concerns.

Hopefully Square will be able to overcome the issues and persuade people that using it for payments is a safe alternative. The iPhone (and now the iPad) have opened up a new platform offering interactions that may not previously have been considered, and  designers and developers are rising to the challenge of designing for these interactions with vigour.

Thursday November 12th is the fifth annual World Usability Day. The day’s focus is “to ensure that the services and products important to life are easier to access and simpler to use”. It is a day for usability practitioners to discuss and promote the work we do in making it simpler for users and customers to achieve their goals.

Each year, World Usability Day focuses on a specific topic. In 2009, the theme for the day is Designing for a Sustainable World. This can include design processes that improve the environmental, social, economical and technological aspects of the design and product lifecycle.

To help celebrate World Usability Day, UsabilityOne will be throwing a free BBQ on the Thursday afternoon. We are welcoming anybody with an interest in usability and sustainability to come down to our offices and enjoy a drink with others in the industry.

The event will be at:

Map

Things kick off at 4:00 PM, with a short presentation at 5:30.

Feel free to drop in at any time during the afternoon, but please email us to if you plan on attending as spaces (and sausages) are limited.

It’s also not too late to enter our Simple Change Big Impact competition. We will be giving away a copy of either Steve Krug’s Don’t Make Me Think or Avinash Kaushik’s Web Analytics: An Hour a Day to the best entry. So head over and tell us the simplest change you made that had the biggest impact. The winner will be announced at the BBQ

See you there