Plenary talk on “Designing for Usability” given by Mark Simpson at the IWMW 2002 event. http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/workshops/webmaster-2002/sessions.html#talk-simpson

1. IWMW Glasgow
Mark Simpson
De Montfort University - Leicester
Managed Learning Environment - MLE
September 2000 to September 2002
Joint Information Systems Committee -

2. IWMW Glasgow
User Issues - Formative and
Summative Assessment
Designing for Usability
•How did we specify the system?
•How did we decide on content?
•How did we verify content?
•Develop conventions for pages?
•Usability trade-offs and compromises?

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What is a MLE?
University Electronic resources linked together
•Student record system - QLS
•Timetabling and Calendar system
•Library databases
•Module and Results database
•Online learning resources - WebCT
•Social databases
•Email and discussion pages
Other student oriented data resources

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MLE
Architecture
MLE (Web) Server
User Manager
Resource Manager
MLE Usage Database
Student Record System
Authentication System
Client Application
(Web Browser)
BIDS
EDINA
e-Journals
etc
Remote Authorised Resources
Timetabling
Finance System
Course Management
Secure, Authorised Access
e-Learning – VLE App
Course Notes,
Study Guides, Exam Papers
Library
Diary
Discussion Lists,
Groupware, email
Entertainment, Social
outside firewall
inside
Resources
Crossing
Firewall

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Usability how hard is it?
Everybody has an opinion
“I hate …… …… …”
“Frames / Flash / PDF are rubbish”
Not useful comments
Anything new will not satisfy X % of users, until
they have used it.

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What is this in your opinion ?
RED

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BLUE
What colour is this in your opinion?

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Development cycle
Web Site Requirements / Specification
Develop Content List
Preparing
Content / Layout
Designing initial
prototype
October
2000
March 2001
September
2001
December
2001
1st user testing
Modifying prototype
2nd user testing
4th
Navigation &
Logic Testing
Correcting
Navigation
Issues –
uportal
February
2002
3rd user
testing
Modifying
design
April
2002
June
2002
June 2002
August
2002
Writing
Training
Material
User Log
Tracking

9. IWMW Glasgow
Specification
What does the system do?
•What are the users like
•What do they want the system to do
•What can we do from the users want list
•What are the usability issues with current systems
•Can the MLE solve these issues
•Project team produced a list of what they wanted
as indicative student users

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User Requirements
• Ask yourself / project team / steering committee
• Ask users
• Research other systems or similar sites
• What is unique to your project - QLS
• Produce a list of content
• Refine list to remove duplication / impossible
content
• Record list with reasons

11. IWMW Glasgow
Sources of Requirements
1. DMU PC ownership and use
survey 1997, 98, 99, & 00
2. Collaboration in Research
Support by Academic Libraries in
Leicestershire survey [CORSALL]
3. ANGEL user analysis results
4. DMU Nursing School, online
course survey
5. DMU Library survey of student
information needs
6. DMU Research papers on
using the Internet for teaching.
7. DMU Keyskills survey of all first
year students
8. Student Experience Unit
feedback from students leaving
the university
9. DMU Student focus group
meeting
10. Usage reports from similar
11. User interviews with users of
similar existing systems

12. IWMW Glasgow
Results of Specification
• Consistent trend that PC ownership is increasing and that online use
is also increasing
• Users ask for more content than they need
• Academic users want the MLE to be integrated in university
and not isolated
• Students are unconcerned about security and privacy of online
information
• Navigation must be mouse rather than keyboard based, back arrow
used in preference to all other navigation devices
Contents List

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Dendrogram

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MLE Version 2

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Further login trials, testing navigation
•Login trials - user name and password
•Simple content location
•Logging out
•Interface issues
Don’t look at too much each time

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Testing login
&
photographs

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Login trails with HNC, BA, MA students
12 first year students HNC Housing Part-time
7 second year students BA Accounting and
Finance Full-time
26 postgraduates taking MA degrees Full-time
Between each test correct problems and
develop a new feature for testing

21. IWMW Glasgow
How many times do you test it, how many
subjects do you need?
•As many times as you can which will yield useful data
•Between 4 and 10 subjects at a time
•What are you testing ?
•what is the question
•what will you do with the results
•What resources are available
•Don’t leave it hoping it will be alright

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MLE Version 3

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User tracking data
• User Logs for six months
Logon Data, route through site, User Names
Course being studied, Self assessments
completed, discussion involvement
• Didn’t match interview or focus group reports

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Pathways, which way do people go.
Track routes taken by users
Particular attention to successful students
Use data to provide mentoring support to students
having problems
Use data to provide a list of shortcuts
Do people do what they said they wanted in the
specification

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Future Usability:
Training and Help pages
Focus groups – face to face
Online Questionnaires
Feedback from modules with teaching resources
online

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Benefits of the methods
• Provide a handle on the university administration
information issues
• Publicity and visibility for project
• Resolve problems as they were discovered
• Kept in touch with all types of users

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How would we do it differently
• Have an off-line non development system for
testing usability
• Use external evaluation only in the second half of
the project
• When carrying out usability testing freeze the
design

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What should you do?
• Set-up a steering group or panel
• Think about what the site / page / system is
providing
• Do testing using a prototype of content and
navigation regularly
• Always have a usability issue to hand
• Use conventions and standard layouts
– what did the users tell you

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Summary
•3 Formative and 2 Summative methods of
assessment
•Ask users what they want
•Test navigation regularly
•Implement changes and test again
•Don’t expect to please everybody

31. IWMW Glasgow
Where am I now ?