From this months usability newsletter from www.humanfactors.com this quote follows an evaluation involving number of pages, and number of items on the page + frames or no frames. While the experiements are always fascinating to me. This quote in one of the summaries really hit home:

quote:

---

None of their hypotheses were true. Having fewer layers did not
guarantee faster task performance times, and using simultaneous
menus within frames did not guarantee better performance times.
Finally, users preferred some formats that did not help their
performance, and disliked others that helped. This study reminds
us (again) to use caution when applying research results in actual
situations. Using research-based guidelines can help direct the
initial decisions, but then these decisions should be validated with
appropriate usability testing.

---

Full Article

interesting.... I found the "The Ergonomic Pragmatist"'s answer a good one.

quote:

---

Well Bob... I am worried you are starting to scare people. Like EVERY field, ergonomics has a constant churn of theory and research at its cutting edge. There is always new controversy and new insights. But there is certainly a core of solid research-based understanding that we should rely on... and it is at least usually right.

We must be careful in generalizing research findings. Even after spending time with you on it, I still don't really understand the frame design the Japanese study tested.

Probably the most important insight of the month is that usable design is NOT just common sense. We need to apply the established principles and add new insights as they are validated. We must also always test our designs, as the field is complicated. No one gets it right the first time.

---

I thought I was the only one having trouble following the frame design. I understand what they were trying to do, but it wasn't explained very well.

Any links to practical design/interface articles?

---
- Allen
- Stand318
- UBB™ Developers Network | UBBThreads™ Developers Network

Hi Allen,

I'll hunt down a few now and follow up with what I gather up. I follow a few on a regular basis - always with a grain of salt to some extent.

Amanda