This document discusses the importance of user-centered design and usability. It defines key terms like usability, mental models, and user-centered design. It describes how user-centered design involves users throughout the development process from planning to prototyping and testing. Usability testing criteria should be established prior to testing. Tools mentioned for user research, prototyping, and usability testing include Balsamiq, Welie, Morae Recorder, and SurveyMonkey. Following user-centered design principles can increase productivity, reduce support costs, and improve conversion rates.

1. Why User Centered Design
and Usability Matters
Michael Rawlins, Certified Usability Analyst
September, 2009

2. about me...
Michael Rawlins
- Director of User Experience for a global software firm
- Over 20 years of Fortune 100 company experience
- President, CT Usability Professionals Association
- Adjunct Professor, Manchester Community College
- Certified Usability Analyst (CUA)
- Human Factors International’s CUA of the Month in 2007
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3. value proposition...
Every dollar invested in Usability returns $10 to $100
Realize:
better business requirements
shorter development cycles
non-functional requirements - design *SWOT analysis
* Strengths Weakness Opportunities Threats
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4. a few definitions...
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5. usability?
• Effectiveness - can users achieve their goal
• Ease of learning - how fast do they learn the interface
• Efficiency of use - how fast users complete tasks
• Memorability - short & long term memory leveraged
• Error prevention - is there forgiveness
• User satisfaction - do users like the application
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6. mental model?
• “Things should work the way we
think they should work...”
• break the user’s mental model
- they respond negatively
• techniques to explore the
user’s mental model include
card sorting and 1:1 usability
testing
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7. user centered design?
User-centered design (UCD) is a structured product
development methodology that involves users
throughout all stages of the development lifecycle, in
order to create a web site or application that meets
users' needs. This approach considers an
organization's business objectives and the user's
needs, limitations, and preferences.
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8. the process...
To create a user-centered web site you must think
about the needs of your users throughout each step in
the development of your site, including:
plan (objectives & requirements)
collect data from user population (observation)
prototype (low-fidelity)
test 1:1 with users (task based usability tests)
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9. prototyping...
www.balsamiq.com
Low fidelity
www.welie.com
Interaction
Design Patterns
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10. interaction patterns...
http://quince.infragistics.com/#/ByTask
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11. templates vs. patterns
http://www.welie.com
http://960.gs/
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12. tools...
Direct approach -
Morae Recorder to
to capture your tests
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13. It’s collaborative...
enabling you to
work closely with
your developers and
business stakeholders
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14. usability testing criteria
Establish usability criteria prior to creating the test questions
• What are you measuring?
• Users will be able to do “x” in less than two minutes
• Users will be able to navigate to “x” in less than two minutes in three clicks
• Users will be able to buy “x” with no errors or customer support
assistance
• Eight out of ten users will be able to purchase “x”
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15. more tools...
Indirect approaches
Expert Review (use heuristics - rules of thumb)
Online Surveys (example: SurveyMonkey.com)
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16. usability point of view
This can happen
80% of Usability is
about navigation
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17. the symptoms...
Your site or application doesn’t work when user’s:
are over reliant on sitemaps to navigate
access search as a primary navigation tool
navigate with browser controls (forward & back)
To solve:
test with real user’s to determine their mental model
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18. the return...
Increase Productivity
Reduce Support Calls
Reduce Training
Conversion Rate
Reduce Drop-off
Reduce Learning Curve
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19. suggested reading...
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20. questions...
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21. thank you...
michael.rawlins@gmail.com
http://www.michaelrawlins.com
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