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A software development team in the Hazardous Materials Response and Assessment Division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA/HAZMAT) implemented software usability engineering techniques to design a new version of NOAA's oil weathering and spill management program, ADIOS II™. Their purpose was to ensure that both novices and experts can easily use the program for their own work. To achieve this end, team members used design features intended to help novices, without impeding experts. These features included progressive disclosure, incorporation of documentation into the program interface, and error-checking safeguards. The team empirically checked the effectiveness of their design in a series of usability tests, in which they observed spill responders and planners using a prototype to complete realistic tasks. Team members recorded problems encountered by test participants, as well as participants' suggestions and comments. The team then used these findings to improve the ADIOS II interface. The NOAA team believes that usability engineering has proved to be an effective tool for ADIOS II design.