improving your site's usability - what users really want
DESCRIPTION
slides from my workshop at Web2 Expo Berlin 08TRANSCRIPT
improving your site’s usability:
what users really want
leisa reichelt | disambiguity.comweb 2.0 expo berlin - 21 October 08
wow. (you know we’re talking about usability, right?!)
logistical stuff
the ‘back-channel’
twitter: #w2e_ux (design & UX) or #w2e (entire conference)
webexberlin2008.crowdvine.com
think about how much time you spend with your computer today
our schedule:1pm: we start
general principals and heuristics for making sites people like.
2.30-ish: coffee break. yay!how does one go about making a site people want to use? (UCD)
4pm: we end
introductions- your name
- what you do - where you’re from
- three tags
me- leisa reichelt
- freelance user experience consultant- Australian, living in London
- mum, research, seventeen
and you?- your name
- what you do - where you’re from
- three tags
warning: when rules go wrong!
Studies by usability expert Rolf Mollichshow that no two sets of experts come up with the same
results, when evaluating interfaces.
Most experts come up with too many problems.
rulesvstesting
human brainsthe hardware we have to work with
finite storage capacityshort term memory struggles to store
more than about nine things
one decision at a timeattention is a limited commodity
habits are usefulhabits are task that require no attention
recognitionvsrecallour long term memory stores only what
what we can’t easy deduce
interruptions burden our short term memory
switching between tasks takes effort
unexpected things happen making it hard to form habits
computers expect us to remember!
practical tips and guidelines
the principle of commensurate effort
people will spend an amount of effort on things that is in proprtion
to the value they perceive
. in pursuit of something valuable, it is amazing how much bad design people will put up with, and forgive.
polite computing
“If we want users to like our software we should design it to behave like a
likeable person: respectful, generous and helpful.” Alan Cooper
polite computingPolite software is:
• Interested in me (remembers my preferences)
• Perceptive (makes good guesses at what information I’ll want next)
• Forthcoming (doesn’t hold back useful information)
• Self-confident (doesn’t keep asking me annoying questions)
• Responsive (discrete - not too demanding)
polite computingPolite software is:
• Forgiving (if you make a mistake it lets you undo)
• Not a show-off (doesn’t cluttery with showy controls)
• Focussed (too many choices becomes a burden)
• Fudgeable (allows the user to partially complete)
make the easy, easy and the difficult, possible
make it quick to scan & digest
* avoid clutter!* avoid text only
speak the right language• don’t use meaningless
‘copy’ (especially ‘marketing’ content)
• use your audience’s way of speaking, not your company-talk (or programmer talk, etc.)
• information scent: use keywords to guide people in the right direction
seducible moments“there are specific moments where designers
are most likely to influence a shopper to investigate a promotion or special offer. Most of
the time, these moments come after the shopper has satisfied their original mission on
the site.
If we identify the key seducible moment for a specific offer, we can often see over 10 times as
many requests” Jared Spool
the paradox of the active user
haste to get rapid results means we make mistakes - making us slower!
support users in a rush.
image: Steve Krug, Don’t Make Me Think
enter your address separated by commas
GO
GO
street:
town:
feedback
your site should give lots.
(you’re doing great!)
. people tend to avoid using ‘navigation’ as navigation.
They’d rather use links in the centre of the website to get around.
don’t rely on the navigation
do not under-estimate ‘tunnel vision’.
Task focussed users are *so* focussed on the task at hand you will be amazed what they are able to ignore.
the 3-click rule is broken.
people don’t like making decisions on a website - they like to be directed.
it’s your job to know what they want to do and get them there.
An experience strategy is a clearly articulated touchstone that influences all of the decisions made about technology, features, and interfaces.
Whether in the initial design process or as the product develops, such a strategy guides the team and ensures that the customer’s perspective is maintained throughout.
- Subject to Change, Creating great products and services for an uncertain world, Merholz, Schauer, Verba & Wilkens (Adaptive Path) 2008
have an experience strategy
never, EVER, try to design for ‘everyone’
personas
personashttp://www.flickr.com/photos/anikarenina/550438755/
patterns&conventionsvs innovation
coffee time!
welcome back!
how do you go about making a site that
people want to use?
usercentred design (UCD)
what is UCD?
a design process in which the end users are identified, their goals and needs are
understood, the system is designed to support those users and their goals, and the design is
tested with those users so that it can be improved until optimal.
it involves both design and research activities
User Centred Design is interested in both strategic
and tactical elements of design and usability
strategic: why do people want to use this
in the first place?
tactical: how well are people able to use it?
Why do UCD?
supposing is good. finding out is better.- mark twain
http://www.flickr.com/photos/padday/1513526079
Why do UCD?
Co
st o
f m
akin
g c
han
ges
1xDuringDesign
100xAfter Launch
6xDuring
Development
Why do UCD?
There are four key benefits:
• Increased revenue
• Reduced project risk
• Reduced customer support costs
• Greater brand loyalty
Why do UCD?• Project teams don’t understand
genuine user requirements
• Users often don’t understand their own requirements
• Making late changes is slow and expensive
• Late changes happen because of a lack of understanding of requirements
we tend to project our own rationalisations and beliefs onto the actions and beliefs of others
- don norman, the design of everyday things
to design an easy-to-use interface, pay attention to what users do, not what they say.
self reported claims are unreliable, as are user speculations about future behaviour
- jakob nielsen
user research helps you uncover, understand and design for real user requirements
do I really need to do UCD?
do I really need to do UCD?
if:a) your end users are just like you and/orb) you’ve designed (successfully) for these users before and know them well
do I really need to do UCD?
if:you find yourself resorting to stereotypes and cliches (esp. involving your mother or grandmother), you need to research.
what will I learn from UCD?
Concept- the model for how the value is delivered
Proposition- the value to the customer
Structure- the right elements in the right order
Information- the information required by the user at different stages
Interaction- how the user interacts with the product components
Appearance- what it looks like and how it is arranged
User Experience
Usability
Jesse James Garrett, The Elements of User Experience
generative research
prototype
evaluative research
ways to do research
quantitativevsqualitative
The most striking truth of the curve is that zero users give zero insights.
lab based research
focus groups - care!
field research (ethnography)
‘guerrilla’ research
silverbackapp.com
what to test?(prototypes)
iterate!
questions&discussion?
just because nobody complains doesn’t mean all the parachutes are perfect- benny hill
Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA