Usability: a brief introduction

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    Usability: a brief introduction - Presentation Transcript

    1. Usability A brief introduction Philip Morton http://www.flickr.com/photos/david_nicholai/987226801/
      • What is usability?
      • Why is it important?
      • How does bad usability come about?
      • How can you improve it?
      • Further reading
      • Questions
      Outline
    2. What is usability? Usability is two things:
      • A measure of how easy user interfaces are to use.
      • The methods for improving ease-of-use during the design process.
      Usability is two things: In other words, how people interact with the systems and objects around them.
    3. What is usability? Usability is all around us:
    4. What is usability? Usability is all around us:
    5. What is usability? Usability is all around us:
    6. What is usability? Usability is all around us: http://www.flickr.com/photos/96854970@N00/3320024073
    7. What is usability? Usability is all around us: http://www.flickr.com/photos/caddick/471212949
      • Learning : How easy is it for people to accomplish basic tasks the first time they encounter a system?
      • Efficiency : Once people have learnt the design, how quickly can they perform tasks?
      • Memory : When people return to the system after a period of not using it, how easily can they re-establish proficiency?
      • Errors : How many errors do people make, how severe are these errors, and how easily can they recover from the errors?
      • Satisfaction : How pleasant is it to use the system?
      What is usability? Usability has five core components: http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20030825.html
      • People will go to great lengths to avoid using difficult systems.
      • If they have to use a difficult system, they will do so as little as possible.
      • If they have to use a difficult system, they will waste time.
      • More support will be necessary.
      • More changes will be necessary.
      Why is usability important? Bad usability costs money: In the same way, good usability can make money.
    8. Why is usability important? Bad usability can cost lives. What’s the largest threat to a nuclear power station?
      • Three Mile Island, 28 th March 1979.
      • A mechanical fault caused a cooling system valve to stay open.
      • A light in the control room indicated that power to open the valve was off.
      • Engineers assumed that the valve was closed, when it was still open.
      • The problem was not discovered for hours.
      • Coolant leaked from the reactor.
      • Caused a partial core meltdown.
      • This is a bad thing.
      Why is usability important? Bad usability can cost lives.
    9. How does bad usability come about? A lack of communication between everyone involved in building the system.
    10.  
      • We can’t remember everything.
      How does bad usability come about? Not understanding how people really use systems:
      • Our mental model of a how a system works is often not the same as reality.
      How does bad usability come about? Not understanding how people really use systems:
      • We don’t make logical decisions; we choose the first reasonable option.
      • Everyone makes mistakes, even experts.
      How does bad usability come about? Not understanding how people really use systems:
    11. How does bad usability come about? Not understanding how the design process works.
    12. How can you improve usability? Don’t listen to people. “ To design an easy-to-use interface, pay attention to what users do, not what they say. Self-reported claims are unreliable, as are user speculations about future behaviour.” – Jakob Nielsen http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20010805.html Observe them.
      • Frequent, formal usability testing is best.
      • If you can’t get or afford this, a few colleagues will do. You don’t need many of them:
      How can you improve usability? http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20000319.html Don’t listen to people. Observe them.
      • Keep it simple.
      How can you improve usability? Avoid complexity and the paradox of choice: http://www.bt.com
      • Expose other options only when relevant.
      How can you improve usability? Avoid complexity and the paradox of choice: http://www.gmail.com
      • Provide people with constraints.
      How can you improve usability? Avoid complexity and the paradox of choice: http://www.kayak.com
      • Removed extraneous text and options.
      How can you improve usability? Avoid complexity and the paradox of choice: http://www.paypal.com
    13. How can you improve usability? Provide people with feedback. http://www.kayak.com http://www.gmail.com http://www.twitter.com http://www.flickr.com
    14. How can you improve usability? Show people the state of the system. http://www.amazon.co.uk http://www.flickr.com http://www.itunes.com
    15. How can you improve usability? Allow people to easily recover from errors. http://www.gmail.com http://www.flickr.com
      • Usability concerns every object and system.
      • Bad usability can be expensive and dangerous.
      • Don’t listen to people. Observe them.
      • You don’t need a lot of money or people to do usability testing.
      • Usability is easy to improve.
      Summary Key points:
      • Don’t Make Me Think! by Steve Krug
      Further reading Books:
      • The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman
      Further reading Books:
      • useit.com – Jakob Neilsen
      • AListApart.com
      • BoxesAndArrows.com
      • UXMag.com
      • UXMatters.com
      Further reading Websites:
    16. Questions? http://www.flickr.com/photos/nzdave/491410298/

    + Philip MortonPhilip Morton, 5 months ago

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