HealthCoach4Me.com: HEURISTICS

Dave Maruszewski & Shirley Carvalhedo

Methodology

Analyze Lund’s list; 8 among of 34 items were chosen.

Analysis of three health sites: http://www.healthcoach4me.com/en/about.html; http://www.webmd.com/; http://www.healthfinder.gov/

Lund’s List

1. Know thy user, and YOU are not thy user.2. Things that look the same should act the same.3. Everyone makes mistakes, so every mistake should be fixable.4. The information for the decision needs to be there when the decision is needed.

5. Error messages should actually mean something to the user, and tell the user how to fix the problem.6. Every action should have a reaction.7. Don’t overload the user’s buffers.

8. Consistency, consistency, consistency.9. Minimize the need for a mighty memory.

10. Keep it simple.11. The more you do something, the easier it should be to do.12. The user should always know what is happening.13. The user should control the system. The system shouldn’t control the user. The user is the boss, and the system should show it.

14. The idea is to empower the user, not speed up the system.15. Eliminate unnecessary decisions, and illuminate the rest.16. If I made an error, let me know about it before I get into REAL trouble.17. The best journey is the one with the fewest steps. Shorten the distance between the user and their goal.18. The user should be able to do what the user wants to do.19. Things that look different should act different.

20. You should always know how to find out what to do next.21. Don’t let people accidentally shoot themselves.22. Even experts are novices at some point. Provide help.23. Design for regular people and the real world.24. Keep it neat. Keep it organized.25. Provide a way to bail out and start over.26. The fault is not in thyself, but in thy system.

27. If it is not needed, it’s not needed.28. Color is information.29. Everything in its place, and a place for everything.

30. The user should be in a good mood when done.31. If I made an error, at least let me finish my thought before I have to fix it.32. Cute is not a good adjective for systems.33. Let people shape the system to themselves, and paint it with their own personality.34. To know the system is to love it.

Rules Nine main categories:

The more you do something, the easier it should be to do; The idea is to empower the user, not speed up the system; Don’t let people accidentally shoot themselves; If it is not needed, it’s not needed; The user should be in a good mood when done; Error messages should actually mean something to the

user, and tell the user how to fix the problem; Keep it simple; Consistency, consistency, consistency; Even experts are novices at some point. Provide help.

Error messages should actually mean something to the user, and tell the user how

to fix the problem.

Password and e-mail fields Help users to

fill out the form

Keep it simple.

Just four labels

Users will be able to find the information quickly

Consistency, consistency, consistency.

The Spanish version of the site is consistent with the main site The information is

accessible to a growing population (Latin America)

http://www.healthcoach4me.com/es/index.html

http://www.healthcoach4me.com/en/index.html

Even experts are novices at some point.

Provide help.

Icons reflect the content

Helps non-native speakers connect to words and makes it easier to read and locate information

The more you do something, the easier it should be to do

This is a typical form that you would find in many places on the site It is in .pdf form Meant to be downloaded and then filled in

The idea is to empower the user, not speed up the system

From the coaching plan, you can fill out this questionnaire You can make your own questions of certain type A generic graph is created

Fill out and get this graph

The idea is to empower the user, not speed up the system

Easy buttons that help you find your topic Not all on one page

Don’t let people accidentally shoot themselves

Register Now appears when logged in Sometimes, it will let you register when you are logged in or it

will log you out

Don’t let people accidentally shoot themselves

A simple and effective way to stop users from re-logging in

A convenient “Back” button is used

If it is not needed, it’s not needed

Reverse, Pause and Play Buttons Skip from picture to picture with small differences in text blurbs All pictures end with “REGISTER AT NO COST” and “TAKE SITE

TOUR”

If it is not needed, it’s not needed

Similar concept but have buttons on the bottom for easier navigation

Slideshows go somewhere different for each picture

The user should be in a good mood when done

Most “Clicks” in the Health Library end in .pdf pop-ups

Click one of the links and you get a .pdf

Bibliography GSK. A virtual health coaching site. 25-31 May 2011

<http://HealthCoach4Me.com>. Hansen, W. J. "User Engineering Principles for Interactive Systems." Proceedings

of the Joint Computer Conference. New York: ACM Press, 1971. 523-532. Hix, D. & Hartson, H.R. Developing User Interfaces: Ensuring usability through

product and process, NY: Wiley, 1993. Laurel, B. (Ed.) The art of human-computer interface design. Menlo Park:

Addison Wesley, 1991. Lund, A. M. "Expert Ratings of Usability Maxims." Ergonomics in Design May

1997: 15-20. Nielsen, Jakob. Usability Inspection Methods. New York: Wiley and Sones, 1994. Shneiderman, Ben. Designing the User Interface. Boston: Addison Wesley, 1997. Smith, Sid and Mosier, Jane. Guidelines for Designing User Interface Software.

ESD-TR-86-278. Springfield: National Technical Information Service, 1986. U. S. Department of Health and Human Services . Your Source for Reliable

Health Information. 1 June 2011 <http://healthfinder.gov>. WebMD. Better Information. Better Health. 1 June 2011

<http://www.webmd.com>