We address the start-up of a usability research and testing capability at the Census Bureau. By way of introduction we discuss what we mean by usability, the kinds of products and activities that it can apply to in survey organizations and how one might evaluate whether usability research, design and testing are worthwhile. Next we focus on the kinds of usability methods to apply at various stages in the development cycle and issues we have encountered when dealing with clients. In the last section we mention some features of the emerging Census Bureau usability capability and areas in which we are currently conducting usability research.
