Usability And UCD In The SDLC

Usability and User-centred Design in the Software Development Lifecycle Shane Morris

A Little Bit About Me
Uni
Computer Science
Cognitive Science
I’ve Worked as:
User Interface Developer
User Interface Designer
Information Architect
Usability Engineer
Interaction Designer
I’ve worked on:
GUI’s
Web Sites
Web Applications
Kiosks
Interactive Multimedia
Hardware
Interactive Television

Now I’m a
User Experience Evangelist
I talk to...

I want to talk about
Usability and User-Centred Design in the Software Development Lifecycle

Usability

What do we mean by “Usable”?
Easy to learn
Efficient
Error-free
Responsive
Accessible
Discoverable

Usability
“ the extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction in a specified context of use.”
ISO 9241
1998

10 Usability Heuristics – Jakob Nielsen
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
http://www.useit.com/papers/heuristic/heuristic_list.html

4. Consistency and Standards

4. Consistency and Standards qantas.com westpac.com.au

How do we achieve usability?
Understanding users
Testing with users

User-Centred Design (UCD)
In order to design an application that is usable, we need to understand the users.
What is their...
Prior knowledge / training
Motivation and concerns
Task and how they want to perform it
Environment
Tools and resources available
Every user interface design decision should be made with the end-users in mind.

You are not your user!

You are not your user
Adelaide Hospital

User Centred Design (UCD) Process
iso 13407: human-centered design process (simplified)
User

Usability Testing Usability testing is a formal method for assessing usability

Usability Testing
http://www.catalystgroupdesign.com/cofactors/upload/InTestRoom1.jpg

Usability Testing – Key Principles
You are too close to your own design to see the its inherent problems.
(You are not your user)
Because usability testing is objective , it can be authoritative and powerful.
Don’t ask users what they think, observe what they do.

Usability Testing
http://www.portfoliodesign.net/clients/case_study/monster_mob_usability_testing.asp?nav=marketing>

During Usability Testing…
Individual representative users attempt typical tasks
Their actions are observed and logged
Look for
Confusing aspects
Mistakes
When the need help
The sessions may be audio- and video-taped
Often participants are asked to ‘think aloud’
After (or during) sessions, participants are asked for additional subjective reactions, comments and suggestions

Usability Testing in Action
http:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFwU_rvMBaE

Keys to Success
Plan and prepare thoroughly
Remain attentive and flexible, particularly during testing sessions
Because you are dealing with people, it’s important to behave in an ethical fashion, and treat participants with care and respect.
Be open to learning from the results.
(Don’t use usability testing as a way to prove you were right)
Any problem a user finds with our software is our problem, not their problem.

Usability Testing
http://www.microusability.com/muservices/usability_testing.htm

Planning a Usability Test
Define the purpose
Why are you testing?
What are the success/fail criteria?
What form of results do you need?
(Success rates, completion times, error rates, satisfaction ratings?)
Write a test plan
Surprises always arise during testing
Testing uses ‘real people’ - it’s rare to get second chances
Identify, in detail, all materials required
Conduct a Pilot Test!

How many participants?
Statistical significance is generally not required
The first few participants tend to identify most of the major problems
Increasing the number of participants increases the workload and time required
Between 4 and 8 is a good rule of thumb.

Choosing Participants
Participants should be representative of the target users
Right skills
Right training
They should not be part of the project team!

Running the Usability Test
Introductions
“ This is not a test of you”
Ask participant to “think aloud”
Explain privacy considerations.
Will the session be recorded?
How will personal information be used?
Give user their (first) task
Avoid the temptation to “lead” the participant.
No: “What do you think the Print button would do?”
Yes: “How would you get a paper copy of this?”
Repeat for any other tasks
Post-test Questionnaire

Task Cards Participants are given a card describing each task they are to attempt

Completion Criteria
For each task, define a set of completion criteria – otherwise it’s impossible to report on success rates
Be very specific.
E.g. Completion means that a specific page was reached, or a specific goal was attained.
Tasks may be
Completed successfully
Abandoned by the participant
Abandoned by the host
You should also keep tabs on whether assistance was required.

Observers
It’s a good idea to have observers
Observers must be silent and well-behaved
They are not allowed to interrupt

Test Laboratory
Extensive (and expensive) equipment is not necessary, but can be useful
Lab with one-way mirror (for observers)
Cameras
Scan converters
Mixing and editing capability
Comfort is an important consideration.

Usability Testing
http://www.cognizant.com/html/solutions/services/usability/services.asp

Reporting the Results
To get maximum results, you should spend time analysing and producing a formal report and presentation
Including video or audio in your report is a very powerful way to communicate the significance of issues found.
Remember to be diplomatic when reporting.

Usability Testing at Monash
Usabilty lab: a PC with a webcam that feeds video/audio into another conference room.
Currently 4 members in Usability and Accessibility services within Information Technology Services.
Work covers a wide range of products/projects, from designing UIs for custom built applications, to reviewing and redesigning websites used by students, staff and the general public, to improving both desk and web-based applications used by Monash staff to 'run the business'.
Conduct around 5 usability tests a year, using between 4 - 8 participants.

Usability Testing at Monash continued...
Audio/video is captured using Morae and streamed into another conference room so that clients, stakeholders, etc. can observe sessions. Some of the projects that we've been involved in that students may be familiar with are designing the online version of the course handbooks, working on a redesign of the Course Finder search engine and related pages and usability testing the online application tool for international students.
Andrew Sweeney Usability Consultant Monash University ITS Web Centre

Usability
“ the extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction in a specified context of use.”
ISO 9241
1998

Usability in the Software Development Lifecycle Envisioning Planning Developing Stabilising Deploying

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Usability And UCD In The SDLC

by Shane Morris on Oct 08, 2008

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