Usability--What is it?

Usability: What is it?

“Form follows function-that has been misunderstood. Form and function should be one, joined in a spiritual union.” - Frank Lloyd Wright

Overview What is usability? How do people use the web? Why does it matter? What are some examples? Why is usability important? What does it cost? How do you do usability? What to remember about usability? How do I learn more about usability?

Recommended reading and training

What is Usability?

Usability is a measure of quality It’s defined by six quality components:

Effectiveness Learnability Efficiency Memorability Error Prevention Satisfaction

Source: Jakob Nielsen’s AlertBox: http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20030825.html

“If you don't care about quality, you can meet any other requirement.”- Gerald M. Weinberg

What’s Wrong with These Pictures?1. Effectiveness2. Learnability3. Efficiency4. Memorability5. Error Prevention6. Satisfaction

Images courtesy of Usability Professionals Association: http://worldusabilityday.org/

Image courtesy of Usability by Design: http://www.usability.uk.com/resources_humourc.htm

Law #1 of Usability

Don’t make me think Eliminate questions in user’s heads like:

Why did they call it that? Names of things should be obvious

Is it clickable? Buttons should look like buttons; links should look like links.

How to search? – use a search box labeled Search or a box with a button that says “Search” next to it.

Where am I? Where should I begin? Where did they put _______? What are the most important things on this

page?

?

Points from Steve Krug’s book: Don’t make me think

How do people use the web?

We usually muddle through, looking feverishly for anything that resembles what we’re looking for that is clickable.

If it doesn’t pan out, we click the Back button and try again.

We don’t read pages; we scan them.

We don’t make optimal choices. We satisfice.

Points from Steve Krug’s book: Don’t make me think

Why does it matter?

There’s a better chance they’ll find what they’re looking for.

There’s a better chance they’ll understand the full range of what we offer.

We have a better chance of steering them to the parts we want them to see.

They’ll feel smarter and more in control, which will bring them back.

If we make something where users “get it”:

Submitted by Sue Neiers

What’s Wrong with These Pictures?

Which element(s) are missing?

1. Effectiveness2. Learnability3. Efficiency4. Memorability5. Error Prevention6. Satisfaction

Submitted by Jon Christopherson

When rescheduling a meeting in Lotus Notes, I have to drag a slider along with me. If I forget to bring the slider, I have to go back to the original meeting time and get the slider. It’s really difficult to drag it if I have to move the meeting more than a couple days forward.

When rescheduling a meeting in Lotus Notes, I have to drag a slider along with me. If I forget to bring the slider, I have to go back to the original meeting time and get the slider. It’s really difficult to drag it if I have to move the meeting more than a couple days forward.











How about some good examples?

Google Sketchup

Submitted by Bryan Christensen

What’s good about this product?








Why is Usability Important?

Usability is necessary to survive. If it’s difficult to use, people leave. If users get lost, they leave. If it’s hard to read or doesn't answer users' key

questions, they leave. If users cannot find the product, they cannot buy it. If users don’t know how to buy the product, they

cannot buy it. If users cannot find the price of a product, they will

not buy it.“The joy of an early release lasts but a short time. The bitterness of an unusable system lasts for years.”- Anonymous

What is Usability NOT?

Usability should NOT be: Expensive Time consuming A creativity killer Focus groups Customer satisfaction surveys

“It is far better to adapt the technology to the user than to force the user to adapt to the technology.”- Larry Marine

How Much does Usability Cost? Cost: Best Practices say to spend 10% of project budget on

usability More than doubles a web site's desired quality metrics Slightly less than doubles an intranet's quality metrics

Benefits : For internal users ,think about:

Cutting training budgets in half (or more) Reducing bottlenecks by enabling more non-specialized personnel to

perform duties

For external users, think about: Doubling (or more) the number of registered users Doubling (or more) number of products ordered

When to Start Usability?

The earlier the better Before you’ve defined the requirements Before you begin the design Before you write the code Before you begin the mission

“You can use an eraser on the drafting table or a sledge hammer on the construction site.” - Frank Lloyd Wright

How do you do Usability?

Before starting the new design, test the old design. Test your competitors' designs. Conduct a field study to see how users behave in their

natural habitat. Make quick prototypes of one or more new design ideas and

test them. Refine the design ideas that test best through multiple

iterations. Inspect the design relative to established usability

guidelines. Once you decide on and implement the final design, test it

again.

“It's better to design the user experience than rectify it. It's the difference between a cathedral and the Winchester House.” - Jon Meads

Food for thought …

“Questions about whether design is necessary or affordable are quite beside the point: design is inevitable. The alternative to good design is bad design, not no design at all. Everyone makes design decisions all the time without realizing it -like Moliere's M. Jourdain who discovered he had been speaking prose all his life -and good design is simply the result of making these decisions consciously, at the right stage, and in consultation with others as the need arise.” - Douglas Martin (Book Design)

“Coding is long. Design is short. Paper is cheap.”- Anonymous

Recommended Reading

Don’t Make Me Think by Steve Krug Essay #46: “Why software sucks (And what to

do about it)” by Scott Berkun Designing from Both Sides of the Screen by

Ellen Isaacs and Alan Walendowski Institutionalization of Usability by Eric Schaffer And just about anything Jakob Nielsen writes!

“If there's a 'trick' to it, the UI is broken.”- Douglas Anderson

Recommended Training

Human Factors International offers: Excellent training courses in many locations Certification program for usability analysts Online community for certified usability analysts

My favorite courses were: The science and art of effective web and

application design User-centered analysis and conceptual design

Points to remember Usability is a measure of quality Remember Law #1: Don’t make me think Users scan and click UN-usability means users won’t use it Usability increases productivity and use, saving

both time and money Usability costs about 10% of budget Start usability before design Design for user tasks Usability test early and often!


“If the user can't use it, it doesn't work.”- Susan Dray

Usability--What is it?

Technology

frank lloyd

steve krugs

whats wrong

whats good

lotus notes

dont make

good examples

good design