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This revised and updated guide to the environmental economics of
development projects demonstrates how the environmental impacts of
projects can be translated into monetary values. The theoretical
bases are examined, and the techniques themselves given detailed
exposition, supported by extensive case studies illustrating a wide
range of applications. The text should become a useful complement
to all standard forms of project analysis.
This revised and updated guide to the environmental economics of
development projects demonstrates how the environmental impacts of
projects can be translated into monetary values. The theoretical
bases are examined, and the techniques themselves given detailed
exposition, supported by extensive case studies illustrating a wide
range of applications. The text should become a useful complement
to all standard forms of project analysis.
People spend increasing amounts of time and effort interacting with
complex hardware and software products. Some of the products we
interact with are easy to learn and easy to remember. Some are even
a pleasure to use. Others are hard to learn, hard to use, and
frustrate us at every turn. But it is not just the user that pays
the cost in such cases. Poor usability also imposes significant
costs on product producers. Companies that make hard-to-use
products incur higher support costs, spend more on rework, and have
less satisfied customers. These outcomes can be avoided by applying
the techniques of usability engineering and user-centred design
(UCD) during product development. This book shows how usability and
UCD practitioners do this by studying users' needs and abilities,
designing the product accordingly, and verifying the design through
additional testing with users. Despite the positive return on
investment for usability engineering activities, many organizations
view usability engineering as a non-critical part of the product
development process. This book seeks to change this by relating a
number of cases where usability engineering contributed
significantly to the solution of a business problem. Evidence is
drawn from experiences within a range of private and public sector
organizations showing how usability work can best be organized and
executed within a business environment. The organizational factors
that facilitate or impede the application of usability engineering
are also discussed. The book clearly explains the barriers to be
overcome as well as highlighting the factors promoting success. A
wide range of applications are covered, including web-based
e-commerce, medical devices and software, process control
management systems, financial services applications, consumer
desktop applications and interactive voice response systems.
Usability Success Stories provides a valuable guide for business
managers and technical staff as well as for practitioners within
the field itself.
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