From online flight boarding passes to application forms, we all use PDF more than we probably realise. And with the Federal Government making all paper-based forms available electronically in PDF format as part of its Electronic Services Delivery strategy, PDF continues to be an essential part of our day-to-day lives, both at work and at home.

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!

Of late, there have been discussions around the office, and with some of our clients, as to why in one-on-one user testing we get users to begin each task from the homepage. Following on from the previous blog post ‘Is your homepage, your homepage?’ there are arguments that not all users arrive at the homepage, so getting them to begin from there is not representative of a real world scenario, particularly since Google and other search engines encourage users to arrive deeper into the site.

That being said, even though the majority of your users might be landing deeper in your site, it is not to say that particular content should not be easily accessible from the homepage. Often when users are browsing a site they will use the homepage as a base to access different areas of your site, continually coming back and using the homepage as a reference or starting point. So even though users may have initially arrived deeper in your site, there is a good chance that during their visit they will click through to your homepage in order to locate other content.

Generally speaking, we feel that tasks presented during user testing are largely independent from each other and we encourage users to approach each task as if they had just arrived at the site. While it may be appropriate to base the first task of a testing session on a page other than the homepage, in most cases, we recommend that subsequent tasks begin from the homepage. The homepage provides a logical reset point from which users can begin their next task and provides an opportunity to test the effectiveness of the homepage and site navigation.

When on an important client call it can be quite stressful figuring out which button to use to place the call on hold and avoid rudely hanging up on the person. No matter how many times I’ve taken calls using this phone, time and time again I get confused . So much so that I’ve had to create my own work around for the device by placing a sticky note on the phone.

One sunny day several months ago, my partner decided he just had to check out the new Mazda MX5 and towed me along to the nearest showroom. Whilst we were there, I fell in love with the CX7 but that is a story for another day as I was instead, firmly steered towards the MX5 which stood ready for a test drive.

We drove sedately enough out of the gates, but once we were on the road he put it through its paces. Suffice to say I had a death grip on the armrest by the time we slowed and turned into a residential area. As the road turned out to be a dead end, we needed to make a three-point turn to get back out onto the main road.

It was at this point that my partner realised he couldn’t put the car into the reverse gear.

“What do you mean you can’t put the car into reverse?!?” was my calm reply.

The unattainable reverse gear.

He pointed out that the sixth gear was where the reverse normally was (it was a manual car), and the indicated reverse gear was to the left of first. Only the gear stick wouldn’t move any further left than first gear. I wasn’t convinced until we had made several jerky movements forward until we were merely centimetres away from someone’s garage door.

As my partner tried to call Mazda to find out what to do with the gears, I was frantically looking through the car for a manual. Thwarted, I moved the search to the internet on my mobile. Then, we heard a car horn behind us. The owner of the garage (in a massively intimidating Hummer) wanted in. We had to explain the problem to him and he was all ready to tow us out. Finally, Mazda rang us back. It was easy, he said. “Just press down on the gear and hold whilst shifting it left”.

Just in time. The owner of the garage had had enough. I was scared to death that he would attempt to tow us out and break the bumper making us liable for the damage! We sat in embarrassed silence all the way back to Mazda.

“Well, we’re here,” I said.

“Yes. Yes we are.”

“You know it wasn’t our fault right. The label doesn’t say anything about pushing down…”

“They’re still going to laugh at us.”

Driving. Not that simple.

When a design defies established conventions, there needs to be a obvious indication of how the new design works. Clear concise labelling can be important for guiding the user in learning to use it.