Steve Krug: Lazy Person's Guide to a Better World - UX Lisbon 2010

And now for something…
… somewhat different
Short books, short talk
20 minutes of slides, 20 minutes of questions
Questions can be about anything
Except that brief period in the late 70’s
© 2001 Steve Krug © 2010 Steve Krug

About the title
I am lazy
Could happily watch Law and Order reruns eight hours a day
But this isn’t about being lazy: It’s about being effective
I do believe you should do as little as possible when fixing usability problems

As Jakob said…
There aren’t enough usability professionals to go around
Everyone should be doing their own usability testing
This is about a few things I learned while writing the new book

What’s funny about this?
Have you ever gone to a Web site and run into a serious usability problem? [Show of hands]
Did you find yourself thinking “How can they not have noticed this? And fixed it?”
Did you go back months later and it was still there?
I’m going to tell you how that happens, and how to avoid it

Uasbility testing works
If you’ve done any testing, you know it works
Uncovers lots of problems quickly
Wonderful
But I’ve finally realized this is part of the problem
It takes far less resources to find problems than to fix them
You can find more in a day than you can fix in a month

Things I have learned
It’s easy to get seduced into fixing the easier problems first
As a result, the most serious usability problems often remain for a long time
So I’m going to try to convince you to do two things
If you’re naturally lazy like me, you’ll embrace them happily

My solution
Two of the six maxims in my book:

Why
Because it’s easy not to
Serious problems are often there not because you weren’t aware of them, but because you don’t know how to fix them
Fixing simple problems is easier, more appealing
Because you think you’ll fix them eventually
Hate to duplicate effort
The “next version” fallacy
People will continue to suffer

It starts with the observers
Instruct the observers
After each session, write down the three most serious problems you observed

The debriefing
Over lunch (or dinner)
Right after the three test sessions
Objective: Deciding what you’re going to commit to fixing before the next round of testing

The debriefing
Go around the room
Everyone contributes from their list of nine problems
Write on easel pad
Leave some space for improvements/amendments
People can say “Me too!”
Treat all contributions with respect
Not discussing yet
Stick to observed problems!

The debriefing
Decide which are most serious
Some magic happens here
Voting
Dictatorship
Hybrid
Not usually as hard as it seems BECAUSE THEY ALL SAW THE SAME BEHAVIOR
Number them
Copy the numbered list
Ten is probably enough
Leave space in between

The debriefing
Start at the top
Work down the list
Come up with rough idea of how you’ll fix them
who will do it
the resources required
When you’ve allocated the resources you can commit in next month, STOP!
Tear off the rest of the list
Crumple it up
Throw it away
Thanks to Susan Weinschenck

Tweak, don’t redesign
It’s easy to get sucked into redesigning
Observed: “He had trouble with that menu.”
Temptation: “We should redo the navigation.”
Don’t!!!!!
Find the smallest change you can make that will eliminate the serious problem for most people
Don’t get sucked into making the “perfect fix”

Thanks for all the fish
Send any questions, feedback, gripes to
[email_address]

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Steve Krug: Lazy Person's Guide to a Better World - UX Lisbon 2010

by SteveKrug on May 25, 2010

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Steve Krug: Lazy Person’s Guide to a Better World - UX Lisbon 2010 — Presentation Transcript