value and politics of usability
DESCRIPTION
Presented at the May Chapter meeting of the IIBA HartfordTRANSCRIPT
The Value and Politics of Usability
Michael Rawlins, President, Connecticut Usability Professionals
Presented May, 2011IIBA Hartford Meeting
about me...- Over 25 years of Fortune 100 company experience
- Institutionalized Usability practices at several companies
- President, CT Usability Professionals Association
- Adjunct Professor, Manchester Community College
- Certified Usability Analyst (CUA)
what’s usability?
navigation decision making
more definitions...Effectiveness - can users achieve their goals
Ease of learning - how fast do they learn the interface or system construct
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
nothing new...
what’s a usability test?
where’s the USB port?
Cool, but not intuitively obvious...
people respond to software & hardware that is easy to use.
mental models?“Things should work the way we think they should work...
... if you break the user’s mental model - they respond negatively.”
what does a usability lab look
like?
value proposition...Every dollar invested in Usability returns $10 to $100
A proactive usability practice enables a company to:
realize better business requirements (become strategic)
establish a new value proposition (learn from the users)
reinvent your software or hardware assets
attract and retain target audiences
user experience...
People before SystemsNate Bolt of Bolt|Peters
Experience before Systems
Nate Bolt of Bolt|Peters
Business Logic = Intuition
Nate Bolt of Bolt|Peters
some conclusions...1. Watch five people user your web application.
2. Listen to how they approach specific tasks.
3. Think from the users point of view.
the science...
emerging trends
new tools...
detailed task analysis
what’s wrong?
what’s behind the emotions...
the designers ability to persuade (PET design)
• scarcity
• reciprocity
• authority
• likability
• commitment and consistency
• social proof
the politics...
shared space...Is Usability a task for Sisyphus?
a typical day...“We don’t have time for usability right now.”
“We don’t need you right now... maybe later.”
“The project is almost done. Can you check it out?”
We need partnership from the business and technical stakeholder community...
where in the lifecycle?Test early and often... throughout the entire lifecycle...
Wireframe prototypes are the most cost effective asset to test
the more unfinished looking the better
live sites and applications can be tested
test without constraints (explore the ideal)
what we all lose...
Task Completion (Productivity Increase)
Self-Service (Reliance on Help Desks)
conclusions...
suggested reading...
thank you...