The document provides guidelines for effectively communicating usability problems found during analysis to relevant stakeholders. Key recommendations include separating problems into different design dimensions, keeping an appropriate level of abstraction, prioritizing issues by gravity and effort to fix, and presenting findings and requirements for improvement in a clear and convincing manner to facilitate addressing the usability issues.

1. Communicating Usability Problems Dr. Davide Bolchini University of Lugano - Switzerland

2. Relevance Discovering usability breakdowns is just half of the work Communicating problems effectively to the relevant stakeholders is crucial for the success of the mandate An excellent usability analysis may fail if the communication fails

3. Overall Communication Goals Stakeholders are convinced of the gravity of the usability problems They can gather all the necessary elements to orchestrate the proper strategies for fixing them HABIT CHANGE “ I thought it was good, you convinced me we have hard problems to work on”.

4. Usability Problem Lifecycle

5. Some Guidelines Separation of concerns Abstraction level Extendibility Authority Technicality Prioritization

6. Separation of concerns Decouple a usability problem into the various design dimensions it is concerned with (content, navigation, semiotics, graphics, etc.) Distinguishing between problems which are requirements-independent and problems depending on the purpose of the application (e.g. scenarios supported).

7. Abstraction Level Keep a consistent level of granularity Moving from general to specific Do NOT abruptly mix details (easy to fix) with strategic issues (re-think, re-engineering).

8. Extendibility Describe each problem as a representative of a class of problems Provide a general statement pointing to specific examples . Do NOT suggest a fixing by scenario or by example Show you analyzed it really in depth

9. Authority Give reason of your findings Drawing on elements which can gain credibility Experience: expertise of the analysts Consequences: impact on the user experience Anomalies: compliance with the standard and conventions.

10. Technicality Avoid usability jargon Dot not talk “usabilish” Adapt your concepts and wording to the target audience you are communicating with E.G. You are communicating in front of the project managers and design team

11. Prioritization Communicate your findings in order of importance Gravity for the user experience Estimated effort needed to fix the problem

12. Targets: Developers (engineers, Graphic Designers, Interface Designers…) Product managers Marketing Managers Communication Managers Directors Goals: Communicate usability problems (give an overview of the main problems, rate the emerged issues…); Suggest the requirements for the improvement of the application Usability Report

13. Structure: Cover Executive Summary Table of contents Introduction Results of Usability Analysis Synoptic of usability problems Requirements for improvement

14. Usability Report Document Structure: Cover Executive Summary Table of contents Introduction Results of Usability Analysis Synoptic of usability problems Requirements for improvement (Appendix): methods used

15. Cover Title (and subtitle) Author(s) Name and logo(s) of the Institution(s) performing the evaluation Date: day, month and year Version of the document; Copyright information; Other information (e.g. URL of the institutions involved, Addresses, Report number…)

16. Executive Summary It is addressed to people that does not have time to read the entire report It should present the key findings in a very clear and convincing way 1 page is usually enough It is NOT the table of content in prose the description of the work the organization of the team

17. Table of Content It is the index to the main sections of the document and the corresponding page number Salient titles are key to convey the overall flow of the report Is not a detailed outline Max 1-2 pages

18. Introduction It may describe: (explicit) goals and spirit of the report expected results and how they can be used It cites the methodology and tools used (pointing to an appendix)

19. Results of usability analysis It may consist of different subsections E.g. according to the type of findings and methods used Inspection vs user testing Illustrate in detail the usability problems found Ground them properly and demonstrates their importance Use (commented) screen shots to vividly show the problems

20. Results of usability analysis Present problems by dimension (content, navigation, semiotics) Insert also positive findings Distinguish among expert opinions, user opinions and user findings User testing Results – Include quantitative data Express your annoyance tactfully

21. Requirements for improvement Describe your recommendations for improving the application in close relation to the usability problems illustrated. Your are not (yet) in charge of the redesign Let designers do their work Express requirements (what need to be reflected upon) and NOT design solutions (what should be replaced with what) Your suggestions should not be felt as mandatory by the designers This content can be highlighted while describing the usability problems or in a section apart

22. Synopsis of usability problems It shows the main usability problems found the corresponding requirements for improvement Table formats are preferred Show priority and gravity for the problems here Organize them by dimensions

23. References Bolchini, D., Colazzo, S., Guidelines for Describing Usability Problems in Proc. HCII 2005 International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, Las Vegas, USA, 2005. Jakob Nielsen, www.useit.com Bruce Tognazzini, www.asktog.com