Usability

Usabilityuser – usability - you

Innovative Internet MarketingTMInternet Marketing

Carol TikerperiHead of projects

user – usability – you


Users:

• Are impatient•Blink of an eye: 50 milliseconds

• Visceral reactions: emotions & instincts•Past experiences create the future

•See things in their own way•Expectations: come from habits

• Seek to minimize cognitive effort•Repeating patterns•Predictability



by Peter Morville

User experience:

Users’ experience is determined by

their needs

their tasks

their history

their location



User expectations:

• Your web itself is not your users’ goal – it's an obstacle between the user and their actual goal.

• Perceived usability appears to be tied more to the immediate impression than to actual usability.

• Users expect elements to work in a certain way

…because that’s how things almost always work…because that’s how things usually work

Finding by G.Lindgaard & C.Dudek

by R.Hoekman



User research:

Will help you understand users:

• needs for information• ways of thinking about, grouping and organising information• ways of working with information• expectations about your site• experience with similar types of sites

…and that means that YOU are in control



Means:

• If a system is hard to use – people leave

• If a system fails to clearly state what can be done – people leave

• If the users get lost – they leave

• If the information is hard to read or does not provide answers users are looking for – they leave.

Is composed of:

• 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 re establish 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?



Visit Jakob Nielsen: http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20030825.html

Common problems:

– No clear call to action– Misleading labels and navigation– Poor functionality – broken links, scripting

errors– Long loading times due to overuse of large

graphics, Java applets, ad banners– Poor readability because of inappropriate

design– No tools to aid choice





Example site

Usable product is:

– Easy to learn– Hard to forget :)– Minimizes burden– Reduces workload– Anticipates, forgives and helps solve errors– Does what the user wants and when the user wants– Always provides feedback– Satisfying



http://www.usability.gov/pdfs/guidelines.html



Design guidelines:

http://www.usability.gov/pdfs/guidelines.html



What can you do: • know your user• help your user• don’t assume, research

Key phrases to memorise and use:

...lets the users

...helps the user



Closing thoughts: Almost always, methodical approach is required for achieving better usability

A little is much better than nothing

Remember that if at any stage you feel the urge to intervene and explain, then you have identified a usability problem

What gets measured, gets done



Starting point:

Allow the most important user group

to complete their most important

tasks as quickly and simply as

possible.


[email protected]: tikerperiwww.altex.ee


thank you

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.altex.ee/

Usability

Technology

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