usability and form design - university of calgary
DESCRIPTION
Presentation to UofC Internet Marketing.TRANSCRIPT
Internet Marketing and Social Media – Course # BMC - 291- 001
Usability and Form Design
What is Bad Design?
Tries to talk itself out of the problem…
What is Bad Design?
WARNING…could cause seizures.
What is Bad Design?
WARNING…could cause seizures.
What is Good Design?
…effectively anticipates and works with behaviours as they emerge and evolve…
What is Good Design?
…works with natural human cognition and anticipates actual human scenarios and
stories…
What is Good Design?
…doesn’t overcomplicate things…
“A picture is worth a thousand words. An interface is worth a thousand pictures.”
Ben Shneiderman
What is Good Design?
“Homepages are the most valuable real estate in the world…Complexity or confusion make people go
away”. Jakob Neilsen (www.useit.com)
What is Good Design?
“Usability: denotes the ease with
which people can employ a particular tool or other human-made object in
order to achieve a particular goal.”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usability)
User Experience…
Is about how it makes you feel…
User Experience…
is more than ‘ease of use’…
• Usability
• Functionality
• Content
• Branding
How do you get from here…
To here…
You are not the user and neither is your boss…
1. The User is always Right
WTH???!!!!
2. Understand the User
Target Audience Definition
2. Understand the User
18User and Task Analysis
2. Understand the User
People
Objectives
Strategies
Technology
Janice CHU
28 years old, married, expecting her first child,
HR manager, Calgary, AlbertaFirst – Timer
My name is Janice Chu and my husband’s name is Tom. We both grew up in Calgary and went to university here. We’ve been married for two years. I’m an HR manager for an Oil & Gas company and Tom is a pharmaceutical sales representative.
We feel that Calgary is a great place to live and raise children, but we are having trouble finding a home in Calgary’s marketplace. Since we are expecting our first child, we are now looking at the world through the eyes of our children. This includes where and how we live.
After renting an apartment downtown, we are looking to buy our first home. Since we are first – time buyers, we are a little nervous about purchasing. We also don’t know a lot about maintaining a house, so we are looking for something brand new with few hassles.
We began our search for a new home on the web, and we look for trustworthy sources, such as www.mls.ca. We have been in touch with a real estate agent who is a friend of Tom’s dad, but we are also doing our own research. We find the whole process overwhelming, so we are looking for information that is easy to understand.
We both grew up in the suburbs, so we are comfortable living outside the city center. We’ve heard some good things about McKenzie Towne, so we’re looking to buy there.
“I want to feel confident knowing that we’re
making the right decision”
Attributes:– Currently living downtown in a rented condo– Intermediate Internet user– Interests: friends, travelling, yoga, cooking
Goals:– Starting a family– Owning a home without a lot of hassles– Get the best value for money– Get recommendations from trusted sources– Living in a safe and fun environment
Insights:– Look for value in their purchase– Joint decision – making process– Need to know how their new home’s features will
simplify and benefit their lives – location, safety, layout, household appointments, local amenities
Other brands in Janice’s life: Everyday brands: ‘Aspirational’ brands:
Persona Creation
2. Understand the User
FAIL!
3. Plan Before you Design
3. Plan Before you Design
People
Objectives
Strategies
Technology
Competitive Analysis
Information Architecture
3. Plan Before you Design
Wireframes
3. Plan Before you Design
What are you trying to measure?
4. Understand your Goal
Corporate vs. User Goals
Key Performance Indicators
4. Understand your Goal
• Targeted Core Users
• Business Strategy
• Enabling Technolo
gy
Key Performance
Indicators
Corporate vs. User Goals
− Organizational Effectiveness
− Convert sales and transactions to lower cost channels (cost per interaction)
− Lead Generation and Qualification
− Deeper Customer Insight− One-to-one Marketing
Organization Users
− Ease of Use− Clarity around how I can
accomplish my goals.− “I just want to the buy the
darn thing”− Don’t make me use more
than one channel (or experience) to accomplish my goals.
− Customer Delight
User Goals
4. Understand your Goal
Corporate vs. User Goals
Identify and fully understand problems before finding solutions
5. Avoid Solutioneering
28
“Form follows function - that has been misunderstood. Form and function should be one, joined in a spiritual
union.”Frank Lloyd Wright
6. Form Follows Function
What is the best way for the user to interact?
6. Form Follows Function
95% of users don’t read 80% of your content
7. Content is King
31Content auditing and mapping
7. Content is King
32Once they’ve got you, they’ve got you…
8. Persuasive Design
33Designing Seductive Interactions
8. Persuasive Design
34
Guide the user to the ‘desired outcome’ using scarcity and visual cues
8. Persuasive Design
Don’t forget mobile…
9. Access is for Everyone
36
10. Learn From Failure
37Split Testing
10. Learn From Failure
38
Usability Testing
10. Learn From Failure
10 Steps to User Experience
• User is always Right
• Understand the User
• Plan Before you Design
• Understand Your Goal
• Avoid Solutioneeri
ng
• Form Follows Function
• Content is King
• Persuasive Design
• Access is for
Everyone
• Learn From Failure
40
Know the Lingo…
Why do you make us wait?
The Importance of Form Design
42
The Importance of Form Design
Forms make or break the most crucial online interactions: checkout (commerce), registration (community), data input
(participation and sharing), and any task requiring information entry.
43
Gradual Engagement
Make the process transparent and not overwhelming…
Required Information FieldsBeware Bad Buttons
Beware Bad Buttons
Get your chicken s**t together
Form FAIL!
Phone number. Seems reasonable.
Form FAIL!
Personal Information…
WTF?
Form FAIL!
Error handling.
So, I screwed up.
Quelle surprise.
Form FAIL!
Postal Code?!! Really?
When do I get my chicken?
Form FAIL!
AAARGHHHHH!
Form FAIL!
Field Length• Use field length as a visual guide
(affordance)• Otherwise, consider consistent length
that provides enough room for all inputs
Content Grouping• Use relevant content groupings to
organize forms
Actions• Avoid secondary actions (expand
options, go back)• Align primary actions with input fields
for clear path to completion
Label position• Top Aligned labels for reduced
competition times• Right aligned when vertical screen is
limited• Left alignment for complex data entry
Required Form Fields• Avoid Optional fields• If MOST fields are required: Indicate
optional fields• If MOST fields are optional: Indicate
require fields• Associate indicators with labels
Form Checklist
Progressive Disclosure• Not all users require all available
options all the time• Progressive disclosure provides
additional options when appropriate
Feedback• Inline validation to provide assistance• Errors should indicate and provide
clear resolution• Provide feedback when action is in
progress• Verification of success
Path to Completion• Remove all unnecessary data requests• Illuminate a clear path to completion• Employ flexible data entry• Enable smart defaults• Show progress & save on long forms
Help & Tips• Monitor usage of help and tips (user
activated exposure)• Recommend ways of providing data
Tabbing• Remember to account for tabbing
behaviors• Ensure tabbing works as expected
Form Checklist
• Focus on the end of the conversion funnel
• Optimize site copy, titles and labels to improve SEO
• Add Location Cues > the user knows where they are on the site
• Eliminate unused content
• Prevent ‘No results’ site keyword searches
• Prioritize home page content to align with user goals and increase cross-sell opportunities
• Put key functionality on the home page
• Tweak the location and appearance of key buttons
Optimization
Questions…
Credits: Nick Finck & Raina Van Cleave: http://www.slideshare.net/nickf/the-ten-commandments-of-user-experience
Organizing for Site Optimization, Joe Stanhope, August 2010, Forrester Research
Small Web Site Investments That Pay Off by Adele Sage,with Harley Manning and Andrew McInnes, August 2008 Forrester Research
Contact Me: [email protected]: @john_hutchingslinkedin.com/in/johnhutchingsconsultconiferous.ca
Credits & Suggested Readings
User Experience Design Form Design
Books:• Steve Krug, “Don’t Make Me Think”• Jesse James Garrett, “The Elements of User
Experience”• UX books:
smashingmagazine.com/2008/01/24/usability-and-interface-design-books/
Sites:• Boxesandarrows.com• Adaptivepath.com• Jjg.net• Xplane.com• Lukew.com• Ewardtufte.com• Backofthenapkin.comTwitter:• @davegray• @sunnibrown• @@brandonschauer
Books:Luke Wrobleski, “Web Form Design, Filling in the Blanks”Sites:About the Challenge Disaster: Edward Tufte: edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=0001yB Twitter:• @lukew• @use_this• @smashingmag• @mikaellindh