Usability and User Centred Design

Your host
Fergal Coleman, Bua Consulting
Presenter
Gerry Gaffney, Information & Design

“Usability” and “User Experience”
What’s the buzz?Why should you care?What’s involved?

User Experienceis a key differentiator

User experience
Encompasses traditional usability principles:
Efficiency
Effectiveness
Satisfaction
It’s not just about what happens at the user interface.

Why should you care?
User needs balance business needs to create a strategic framework
Engaging with users helps design the right product, and avoids wasting resources on un-needed or low-priority features
Achieve lower development and support cost, less post-release rework, and better market acceptance
As users become more sophisticated they are less accepting of complex design.

... the service person [asked] why I was switching from the cool new BlackBerry Storm and going to an iPhone.When I told her the product was simply unusable, she responded, "yes, the Storm can be too much phone for some users". Ugh. I said, "let me be clear, this product is defective...”- Mitchell Ashley, PC World (June 20 2009)

It’s not rocket science
Well-established practices
Much can (and should) be done in-house
But you do need some rigour.

“Experience” is processed within the user’s brain...
...focus on the user is key

The generalised design process
Analyse
Design
Evaluate.

Analysis – business needs
Business needs must drive all design.
What are your goals?
How will you measure success?
If you don’t know, you can’t tell whether your efforts are successful.

Best practice
Who’s doing similar products or services well?
What others are facing similar design challenges?
What can you learn from them?

User needs analysis

“Personas” and scenarios

Programming is not designing

Measure the result
Satisfaction (feedback)
Ability to complete tasks (usability testing)
Conversion rates (stats/analytics)
Reduced support costs
Whatever is relevant to your goals.

Summary
The quality of customer experience is a key differentiator in the market
User-centred design is cost-effective
It’s not rocket science
But you do need to actively engage in the process
A steady focus on your customers or users is key.

For more information
... including copies of today’s presentation, links, and other useful stuff:
www.buaconsulting.com/usability
www.infodesign.com.au
Feel free to stay online if you have questions or comments
Thanks for attending!
Fergal Coleman, Bua ConsultingGerry Gaffney, Information & DesignDrawings: Gina Ellis, Information & Design