Usability in Practice
User Interface Design in Practice
Justine Sanderson| Userfaction Ltd | 3 May 2007
© 2007 Justine Sanderson

Today
1. You are not the user
2. Design for the user model
3. Involve users – not just
stakeholders
4. Prototype
5. Learn about good design principles
6. Know your Usability Heuristics
7. Read some books
8. Remember these axioms

You are not the user

architect cleaner
waitress policeman
teacher gardener farmer
midwife receptionist musician
builder marine biologist
nurse florist photographer
sales assistant nanny
plumber sharetrader banana
ripener accountant journalist
coach politician student machine
operator

hang out with
Hang out withwho don’t
people people
use a computer 8
hours a day

Design for the user model

System Model

User’s Mental Model
The internet is a
series of tubes

Involve Users

Create Personas
• Archetypal
representation of your
target audience
• Based on user research
(ideally)
• Aggregation of your
users’ goals, attitudes,
and behaviours
• Presented as a vivid,
narrative description
of a single “person” who
represents a user
segment

Create Personas

Prototype

Test Early & Often

The cost of changes

Prototyping Redux

Never be satisfied with the first idea
Most developers tend to adopt a "satisficing" strategy that
focuses on initial, satisfactory, but less than optimal, solutions.
Never be satisfied with a single opinion or the first idea. It is
best to "saturate the
design space" with ideas
before making decisions
and to consider
alternatives (i.e., better
design solutions,
throughout the design
process).
Ball, L.J., Evans, J.B.T. And Dennis, I. (1994), Cognitive processes in engineering design: A longitudinal study,
Ergonomics, 37(11), 1753-1786.

Screen Description Diagram

1. ‘Bits’ for an account page
2. Company info
3. Insurance info for company
4. My (current user) info
5. Other users on this account
6. My sales rep contact info
7. Current account plan
8. Link to change search preferences
9. Date account was created
10.People rarely view or change insurance info
11.Any user can edit anything except other users' info
12.Changing password is the most likely action
13.People might come here to change search preferences
(which are on a separate page)
http://37signals.com/papers/introtopatterns/

2. Group related bits together
A
1. Company info
10. Any user can edit anything except other users' info
2. Insurance info for company
B 9. People rarely view or change insurance info
10. Any user can edit anything except other users' info
3. My (current user) info
C 11. Changing password is the most likely action
10. Any user can edit anything except other users' info
4. Other users on this account
D
10. Any user can edit anything except other users' info
E 5. My sales rep contact info
6. Current account plan
F 10. Any user can edit anything except other users' info

3. Prioritize
Most important:
3. My (current user) info
C 11. Changing password is the most likely action
10. Any user can edit anything except other users' info
A
1. Company info
10. Any user can edit anything except other users' info
G 8. Date account was created
E 5. My sales rep contact info
Necessary:
2. Insurance info for company
B 9. People rarely view or change insurance info
10. Any user can edit anything except other users' info
4. Other users on this account
D
10. Any user can edit anything except other users' info
6. Current account plan
F 10. Any user can edit anything except other users' info
Nice to have:
H
7. Link to change search preferences
12. People might come here to change search preferences (which are on a separate page)

4. Design each bit individually
A B
C
E
G

5. Put the chunks together

6. Build in software of choice

Create Scenarios/Storyboards

Prototype with Powerpoint
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Learn about design principles

8. Aesthetics & Minimalist Design

8. Aesthetics & Minimalist Design

8. Aesthetics & Minimalist Design
http://dev.uxmatters.com/MT/archives/000015.php

8. Aesthetics & Minimalist Design

Patterns

Doing Heuristics Evaluations

Jacob Nielsen’s Heuristics
1. Visibility of system status
2. Match between system and the real world
3. User control and freedom
4. Consistency and standards
5. Error prevention
6. Recognition rather than recall
7. Flexibility and efficiency of use
8. Aesthetic and minimalist design
9. Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover
from errors
10. Help and documentation

Match between the system
and the real world

2. Match the system and real
world

2. Match the system and the real
world

Be Consistent

2. Match the system and the real world

Prevent Errors

5. Error Prevention

Encourage recognition rather
than recall

6. Recognition rather than recall

Provide Help

10. Help & Documentation

Other Guidelines
• Bruce Tognazzini’s First Principles of
Interaction Design
http://www.asktog.com/basics/firstPrinciples.html
• A good introductory summary from a
fellow student
http://www.charlieguo.com/web_design_readings.php

Recommended Books

Donald Norman

Steve Krug

Alan Cooper

Alan Cooper

Jenifer Tidwell

Axioms
• Interaction Design is not guesswork
• Imagine users as very intelligent but very busy
• No matter how cool your interface is, less
would be better
• Software should behave like a considerate
human