Podcast
Mark DiSciullo
MISI Company – Director of Usability of design services
http://www.misicompany.com
mdisciullo@MISIcompany.com
http://www.disciullo.net
mark@disciullo.net
Overview:
- Why usability?
- Why a user centered approach is often disregarded
- Benefits of a user centered design approach
- User centered approach for a site redesign project
- From research to design …
- Wrap-up
- Q&A
Why Usability?
Usability is a quality attribute relating to how easy something is to use.
If people can’t or won’t use a feature, it might as well not exist. – Jakob Neilson
Usability directly impacts Brand, message, visitors’ impressions
Why a User Centered Approach is Often Disregarded
Excuses
- Budget not allocated
- Time is too tight
- Resources not available (users not easily available)
- Project team naïve to the benefits of usability
- No management level support and does not see usability as a priority
- Encouraged to allow designers to just do it
You’re a designer … just build it! Why that’s not a good idea:
- Human behavior is so variable
- Existing usability guidelines are mainly focused on general behavior
- Specialized studies and rules that are specific enough for your site may not exist
Taking a User-Centered Approached
Whether you perform usability activities or not … your site is going to be tested by users when it’s launched. Is that when you want to find out there’s a problem?
- 80% of maint. Comes from unforeseen or unmet user requirements
- 80% of software costs come from post-release maintenance
- Your audience may be having an awful time with the site and you will never know!
Traditional Development Lifecycle
- Discover
- Analysis
- Design
- Construct
- Deliver
Currently Construction is the most costly and time consuming phase. Optimally, more time should be spent in the analysis and design phases instead (because those phases are very cheap).
Primary research up front saves development costs and reduces risk of change occurring during the more costly phases of a project.
A more usable interface increases sales force productivity by $2,880,000 a year for Merck.
Once you have discovered how people interact with your design, only then can you truly make it better.
A practical user centered approach to site redesign
Know thy user … you are not thy user!
Personas: How are they used?
- Correct misconceptions about users
- Prioritize (and cut) requirements
- Reduce complexity
- Resolve design debates
Creating Personas
- conduct interviews
- a name
- age
- a photo
- personal information, incl. family and home life
- user’s environment
- computer proficiency and comfort level with using the web
- pet peeves and technical frustrations
- attitudes
- motivation or “trigger†for using the site
- information-seeking habits and favorite resources
- personal nad professional goals
- candid quotes
- select a primary
Card sorting
- put sections on cards, let users decide where and how the categories should be categorized
- give some blank cards so that they can create custom containers
Benefits
- Helps understand and correct problems with taxonomy, nomenclature, and site navigation
- Good when budget constraints exists but user groups are easily accessible
- Provides a look into the user’s mental model to capture the way they think about groupings and labels
How-to
- Create note cards with existing categories or new categories that are to be added
- Include blank cards for user’s own ideas
- Photograph each card sort arrangement and record in a spreadsheet
- Large background numbers on the cards can be used for quick recognition on photos
User Testing
- Testing of actual users to discover how they truly interact with your website
- Provides insight into user behavior as observed within their actual (or simulated) environment
- Uncovers real usability issues based on observation – not speculation
- Validates user issues and needs which can be used to decide what features are really needed
Contextual Observation vs. Lab Study
Contextual is more accurate form of testing rather than Lab testing since you observe the user in their actual environment. Lab studies are easier to do in general.
How-to
- Define the tasks that you decide need to be tested
- Tasks should represent actual scenarios that users would perform on your site
- Create a moderator script
- Define a way to capture notes during observations
- At least two test moderators to switch off
- Camera and audio
- Recruiting (How many users?) rule of thumb: 6-12 users from each user group
- Analysis of testing sessions
- Other considerations
- Mimic typical user hardware setup
- Think-aloud protocol
- Plans for “no showsâ€
Paper Prototyping
Getting designs down on paper and showing them to people,… or possibly make a powerpoint presentation.
- Hand sketches
- Wireframes
- Full-color mock-ups
- 4-6 users
Build Your Own Website
Print a big blank browser – make elements out of sticky notes.
Allow users to draw all over the page with sharpies and place sticky notes wherever. Photograph the results and take some notes.
The process
- Research Analysis
- Creative brief
- Moodboards (themes and imagery)
- Wireframe & navigation design
- Color Mock-ups
- Development & Testing
- Transition and Delivery
- On-going support
Writing for the web
- Say LESS
- Use the Inverted Pyramid
- Put more important content first
- Use clear headlines and headings
- Consider the users’ goals
- Use active voice
Conclusion
- User centered design does not have to be a long drawn out process.
- A small amount of testing is far better than no testing at all
- Usability needs to be a priority if you need to continue making your site or application valuable.
- Public Sites
- Usability impacts your branding (message) and differentiates your site from competing educational site
- Portals/Application
- Usability increases productivity
- Goal – Student self service
Main Entries RSS 