Taking Our Own Advice: Usability in Practice

We have completed a number of usability assessments for the AIDS.gov website. However, when we were writing our latest blog post about usability, we realized we neglected to check in with our readers on the blog site. We had not assessed the usability of our own blog. Yikes!

But the great thing about a blog is that it is easy to test usability--all you have to do is ask your readers, and it's never too late to ask!

Usability - Websites and Beyond

We designed AIDS.gov knowing that visitors only spend up to 30 seconds scanning a webpage. People look for trustworthy, updated, and easy-to-read information. If they can't find it, they leave the page quickly.

Question: So how do we provide our users with what they want and in the way they want it?

Answer: Ask them!

Wiki - What?!

"A 'wiki' is a webpage with an edit button*"

The AIDS.gov team loves wikis—but we aren't so crazy about the term "wiki" itself. Why? Because we get blank stares when we tell others how wikis have made our lives easier. Many of our colleagues do not know what a wiki is—and neither did we, six months ago. But now we're hooked!

We have also been impressed by how wikis have dramatically improved communication and collaboration among public health officials—particularly among those working on pandemic flu. To help us learn more, we talked with Dr. Greg Dworkin, the founding editor of the well-known Flu Wiki . We also talked to David Weekly, CEO and co-founder of PBwiki .

National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

Today is National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. For more information, visit the HIV/AIDS Awareness Day Website.

R U Texting?

High school seniors can send hundreds of them in a day. The show American Idol depends on them. And staffers for presidential campaigns are using them to contact potential donors and voters.

"They" are text messages--and they are fast becoming a preferred form of communication for many Americans. During June 2007, Americans sent 28.8 billion text messages!