usability workshop at lillebaelt academy
DESCRIPTION
Usability workshop held by Daniel Gore on 25.11.13. at Lillebealt Academy, Odense, DenmarkTRANSCRIPT
Usability Workshop25.11.2013.!EAL, DSR !Daniel Gore
What is Usability?
"Usability is a quality attribute that assesses how easy user interfaces are to use. The word "usability" also refers to methods for improving ease-of-use during the design process.” Jakob Nielsen
Definition
• Learnability: How easy is it for users to accomplish basic tasks the first time they encounter the design?
• Efficiency: Once users have learned the design, how quickly can they perform tasks?
• Memorability: When users return to the design after a period of not using it, how easily can they reestablish proficiency?
• Errors: How many errors do users make, how severe are these errors, and how easily can they recover from the errors?
• Satisfaction: How pleasant is it to use the design?
• Definition: Utility = whether it provides the features you need.
• Definition: Usability = how easy & pleasant these features are to use.
• Definition: Useful = usability + utility
• Maps, info graphics
• Special Books!
• Houses, Factories, Malls!
• Softwares, websites, apps
• Satisfied users are happier customers
• Increasing productivity
• Increasing profits
• 10% of the design budget = 2x sales increase
Why is usability important?
• "User experience" encompasses all aspects of the end-user's interaction with the company, its services, and its products. Jakob Nielsen
User Experience
• Information architecture (IA) is the art and science of organising and labeling data including: websites, intranets, online communities, software, books and other mediums of information, to develop usability and structural aesthetics. Wikipedia
Information Architecture
Usability in the development process
Content (IA)
Usability
Ads
SEO
• we can test our assumptions
• we can measure our products
• we can iterate on our products
Usability in the development process
Usability Principles
The 10 most general principles for interaction design. They are called "heuristics" because they are more in the nature of rules of thumb than specific usability guidelines.We can measure our products
Heuristics for heuristic evaluation developed by Jacob Nielsen and Rolf Molich in 1990
Nielsen refined it based on a factor analysis of 249 usability problems in 1994
The system should always keep users informed about what is going on, through appropriate feedback within reasonable time.
1. Visibility of system status
The system should speak the users' language, with words, phrases and concepts familiar to the user, rather than system-oriented terms. Follow real-world conventions, making information appear in a natural and logical order.
2. Match between system and the real world
Users often choose system functions by mistake and will need a clearly marked "emergency exit" to leave the unwanted state without having to go through an extended dialogue. Support undo and redo.
3. User control and freedom !
Users should not have to wonder whether different words, situations, or actions mean the same thing. Follow platform conventions.
4. Consistency and standards !
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Even better than good error messages is a careful design which prevents a problem from occurring in the first place. Either eliminate error-prone conditions or check for them and present users with a confirmation option before they commit to the action.
5. Error prevention
Minimise the user's memory load by making objects, actions, and options visible. The user should not have to remember information from one part of the dialogue to another. Instructions for use of the system should be visible or easily retrievable whenever appropriate.
6. Recognition rather than recall
Accelerators -- unseen by the novice user -- may often speed up the interaction for the expert user such that the system can cater to both inexperienced and experienced users. Allow users to tailor frequent actions.
7. Flexibility and efficiency of use !
Dialogues should not contain information which is irrelevant or rarely needed. Every extra unit of information in a dialogue competes with the relevant units of information and diminishes their relative visibility.
8. Aesthetic and minimalist design !
Error messages should be expressed in plain language (no codes), precisely indicate the problem, and constructively suggest a solution
9. Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors !
Even though it is better if the system can be used without documentation, it may be necessary to provide help and documentation. Any such information should be easy to search, focused on the user's task, list concrete steps to be carried out, and not be too large.
10. Help and documentation !
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Usability for websites
Predicts that the time required to rapidly move to a target area is a function of the distance to the target and the size of the target.
The bigger an object and the closer it is to us, the easier it is to move to.
Fitt's law !
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The time it takes for a person to make a decision as a result of the possible choices he or she hasThe bigger an object and the closer it is to us, the easier it is to move to.
The more options, the more difficult to choose
Hick's law !
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Elements with similar functions should be grouped physically and visually.
Similarity !
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Use the logo as a link for navigating to the main page.
Navigation !
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The user should always know where is he on the website
Navigation !
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Links should be visually different and they should speak for themselves
Navigation !
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The text should be always readable
Try to highlight important informations for quicker readers
Contrast, whitespace
Readability !
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Recommended reading !
http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Make-Me-Think-Usability/dp/0321344758
Usability for mobile
Different place and way of usage
Smaller screen
Different screen sizes
Differences !
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Searching for information (Google Maps)
Social media (Facebook)
Work (Email)
Communication (Messaging)
Spending free time (Angry Birds)
What are they doing? !
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Mobile First / Mobile last !
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Concentrate on the content
Decrease navigation elements
Content first !
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Bigger navigation elements (finger size)
Bigger whitespace between elements
No hover state
Instead of scroll, swipe
No physical feedback, visualise feedbacks
Mobile usability
Hotspots
Mobile interfaces
Dashboard
Hamburgermenu
Tabs
Other approaches
GPS
Camera
Sensors
Navigation
Environment
Use the device!
One eye one thumb !
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Recommended reading !
http://www.lukew.com/resources/mobile_first.asp
Information Architecture
The structural design of shared information environments.
The art and science of organizing and labeling web sites, intranets, online communities, and software to support findability and usability.
The combination of organization, labeling, search and navigation systems within websites and intranets.
• sequential!
• hierarchical!
• narrow and deep
• broad and shallow
• web or tag-based
Structuring information !
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1. 2. 3.
• Technique that helps us to organise information
• We can test our users
• Open, closed, hybrid
Card sorting !
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• Define sitemaps
• Structures and hierarchies
• Content categories
• Product categories
• On site
• what should be in one place
• Titles, names, tags
Card sorting is good for… !
• UX sort http://www.uxsort.com/
• xSort http://www.xsortapp.com/
• Simple Card Sort http://www.simplecardsort.com/
Tools to use !
• Displays the frequency that cards are grouped together.
• Shows the clustering of groups in a tree view.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cluster_analysis
Recommended reading !
http://practical-ia.com/
Prototyping
• Define what do you want to test or present
• Choose your tool based on this
Development Progress
!Cost ofchange
Prototype
Alpha version
• Framer.js http://www.framerjs.com/
• Bootstrap http://getbootstrap.com/
• Foundation http://foundation.zurb.com/
Testing
• Measuring analytics can answer the what?
• Usability research can answer for the why?
• Combine analytical data with the UX research for proper insights
Never stop asking questions !
• Usability test
• Observation
• Field study
• Interview
• A/B or multivariate tests
• Eye tracking
Usability research types !
• Existing website or app
• Paper prototype
• Wireframes or graphics
• Interactive prototypes
You can test on… !
• Use real life tasks (Book a ticket, Find someone)
• Ask the participants to think loudly (“I think I should click here to …”)
• Start the test from a realistic environment (Google)
Usability research
• People can tell you what they want
• User research is expensive
• People are rational
• They click on the red buttons more often
• You know what your users wants
Some misbeliefs about researches
Some rules for usability researches
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Don’t ask leading questions
Don’t ask if a feature would ever be used
Don't ask open ended questions
Stay neutral
A/B tests
Multivariate tests
Measuring
• Where are they coming from?
• What are they doing on my website?
• When and where are they leaving it?
You can get answers for these question by measuring you websites
• Content: What should be on the main page?
• Structure: What kind of content should go into the main menu point?
• Do we need detailed search options?
• Should we optimise our website for mobiles?
You can get answers for these question by measuring you websites
• Analytics can tell you what are your users, visitors are doing but it cannot tell you why are they doing it.
Analytics
• Basic indicators
• Conversions
• Funnels
• Integrate in multiple marketing channels
Google Analytics
http://www.advanced-web-metrics.com/
Recommended reading !
