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Usability in Design

This document provides guidance on reviewing an existing website to improve its usability. It discusses meeting the organization's objectives and usability goals, meeting users' needs, and complying with basic web guidelines. Some key points covered include setting measurable usability goals, conducting usability testing and surveys to understand users, performing a heuristic evaluation to identify usability issues, and ensuring compliance with accessibility standards.

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Agha Kazim
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26 views24 pages

Usability in Design

This document provides guidance on reviewing an existing website to improve its usability. It discusses meeting the organization's objectives and usability goals, meeting users' needs, and complying with basic web guidelines. Some key points covered include setting measurable usability goals, conducting usability testing and surveys to understand users, performing a heuristic evaluation to identify usability issues, and ensuring compliance with accessibility standards.

Uploaded by

Agha Kazim
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 24

Review an existing

website
http://usability.gov

Usability in Design
to begin with..

• Meeting Organization’s objectives and your


Usability goals

• Meeting User’s Needs

• Complying with Basic Web Guidelines


MEETING ORGANIZATION’S
OBJECTIVES AND YOUR USABILITY
GOALS
Meeting Organization’s Objectives & Your Usability Goals

• Review the site to see how well the site is


currently meeting your organization's
objectives and the usability goals you have set
for the site.
– Kickoff meetings
– Set Measureable Usability Goals
• Kickoff Meetings
Measureable Usability Goals

• A measurable usability goal is the definition of


successful usability on your site for a specific
set of users doing a specific task.
Example (measure usability goals)

You are building a Web application for owners of small


businesses to pay state withholding tax online. This will
allow a business owner who has been paying withholding tax
by mailing in a check and slip every month will now pay that
tax online. On the first attempt, the business owner will:
• successfully complete the transaction in five minutes or less
• submit the right amount from the right bank and bank account
• make no more than one error while using the application and
recover from any error in one minute or less
• rate the experience a four or five on a one to five scale where
five is the best
• indicate a desire to use the application for future tax payments
Measure Usability Goals……(1)

• Typical usability goals include time, accuracy,


overall success, and satisfaction measures.
• Time
– You can set a usability goal for the overall time the user
will take to carry out a task (scenario) on the site. You
can also break down that time and set measurable
usability goals for:
• time to get to the application or to the right Web information
page
• time to use the application or to understand the information
• time to recover from an error
Measure Usability Goals……(2)

• Accuracy
– Similarly, you can set a usability goal for the
accuracy with which the user carries out the task
(scenario) or you can break it down into separate
goals for:
• number of unproductive navigation choices
• number of unproductive searches
• number of errors in using an application
• number of misunderstandings of information
Measure Usability Goals……(3)

• Overall success
– Obviously, the usability goal must be that users will be successful. If
users cannot do their tasks or cannot get answers to their questions
on your Web site, your Web site is failing those specific users for those
specific tasks and questions.

– You may also set measurable usability goals for how users will get to
that success. For example, you might set a measurable usability goal
for a Web application that new users will go to the help if they need it,
will find what they need in the help, and will be back doing their
original task within two minutes. You might set a measurable usability
goal that a user who has done the task in your Web application before
will do it successfully a second time without using the help.
Measure Usability Goals……(4)

• Satisfaction
– Your measurable usability goal must be that users are happy.
You can measure overall satisfaction. You can also break down
satisfaction and set separate measurable usability goals for
navigation, search, level of detail in the content, language of
the content, and other specific factors.
Measure Usability Goals……(5)

• Relying on Measures
– When you test the Web site against your measurable usability goals, consider
performance (time, accuracy, success) as more important than satisfaction
ratings. If users give the site low ratings, the site needs to be fixed. If users
give the site high ratings, you may not be getting a true picture. In usability
testing, we often find that users give high satisfaction ratings even when they
have had serious performance problems. They may be blaming themselves for
the problems. They may not want to hurt your feelings. They may be being
polite rather than saying what they really think.
Measure Usability Goals……(6)

• Examples of Measuring Usability Testing


– Website level
• 95% of customers will be able to find and order a
product.
• 95% of physicians will be able to find, read, and
understand the latest information on lung cancer
treatments.
• 95% of travelers will be able to make their own airline
reservations.
• All trained "service representatives" will be able to
handle an average of 25 customer calls per hour.
Measure Usability Goals……(7)

• Scenario level
– Scenario level usually refers to two or more page and addresses issues
related to one major type of user interaction). For example:
– 90% of users will be able to find a specific article on thyroid cancer within
three minutes.
– 90% of users will be able to read an "update" article on skin cancer in less
than five minutes.
– 90% of users will be able to make an airline reservation in less than five
minutes.
• Page level
– Page level is always within a page and is usually the homepage. For example:
– 90% of users will be able to find and click on a specified link within 15
seconds.
– 90% of users will be able to find and click on a specified graphic within two
seconds.
– The page will download in five seconds or less on systems using a broadband
connection.
MEETING USER’S NEEDS
Meeting User’s Needs

• Consider how well the site is fulfilling users'


goals by reviewing the types of users who visit
your site and the reasons they come to the
Web site.
– Review users’ email and phone calls (feedback)
– Evaluate Web logs and search logs
– Conduct an online survey
– Conduct a usability test
Tips for Usability test

• Testing the Site NOT the Users


• Performance vs. Subjective Measures
• Make Use of What You Learn
• Find the Best Solution
COMPLYING WITH BASIC WEB
GUIDELINES
Complying with Basic Web Guidelines

• Conduct a heuristic evaluation

• Review the research based usability and web


design guidelines

• Examine organization’s internal policies


Heuristic Evaluation

• A usability inspection method for computer software that helps to


identify usability problems in the user interface (UI) design.

• Heuristic evaluations usually are conducted by a small set (one to


three) of evaluators. The evaluators independently examine a user
interface and judge its compliance with a set of usability principles.
The result of this analysis is a list of potential usability issues or
problems.
Nielsen’s Heuristics

• Visibility of system status


• Match between system and the real world
• User control and freedom
• Consistency and standards
• Error prevention
• Recognition rather than recall
• Flexibility and efficiency of use
• Aesthetic and minimalist design
• Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors
• Help and documentation
Gerhardt-Powals Heuristics….(1)

• Automate unwanted workload


• Reduce uncertainty; display data in a manner that is clear and
obvious.
• Fuse data; reduce cognitive load by bringing together lower
level data into a higher-level summation.
• Present new information with meaningful aids to
interpretation:
– Use a familiar framework, making it easier to absorb.
– Use everyday terms, metaphors, etc.
• Use names that are conceptually related to function.
– Context-dependent.
– Attempt to improve recall and recognition.
Gerhardt-Powals Heuristics….(2)

• Group data in consistently meaningful ways to


decrease search time.
• Limit data-driven tasks:
– Reduce the time spent assimilating raw data.
– Make appropriate use of color and graphics.
• Include in the displays only that information
needed by the user at a given time.
• Provide multiple coding of data when appropriate.
• Practice judicious redundancy.
Web Accessibility

• W3C initiative (WAI) http://w3.org/WAI

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