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Usability and user-centred design

Justine Sanderson
February 24, 2006

Usability and user-centred design

A talk I gave to the graduate employees of a software development firm.

Justine Sanderson

February 24, 2006
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  1. Intro Usability & User Centred Design Justine Sanderson | RHE,

    Auckland 24 February 2006 © 2006 Userfaction Ltd
  2. Why Usability? 63% of software projects exceed their budget estimates,

    with the top four reasons all relating to product usability: frequent requests for changes by users, overlooked tasks, users' lack of understanding of their own requirements, and insufficient user analysis communication and understanding (Lederer & Prassad, 1992).
  3. Usability Usability means designing things that actual human beings can

    use for their intended purpose steve krug – don’t make me think
  4. User Centred Design To develop an experience based on the

    patterns inherent in your stuff that empowers users to accomplish their goals. jeffrey veen
  5. Observing in context How do people actually use and experience

    computers? How often do they use them? How satisfied are they? What are their wants and needs? What are their suggestions for improvement?
  6. What people say (market research/focus groups) What people do (ethnography/contextual

    enquiry) What people make (lead users/participatory design) Explore
  7. 'I don't know who discovered water, but it wasn't a

    fish.' Step out of your environment
  8. architect cleaner waitress policeman teacher gardener farmer midwife receptionist musician

    builder marine biologist nurse florist photographer sales assistant nanny plumber sharetrader banana ripener accountant journalist coach politician student machine operator truck driver manager secretary
  9. Use Cases 1.  The user sees a welcome message on

    the ATM's screen. 2.  The user takes a valid Huntington bank card from their wallet. 3.  The user slides the bank card fully into the marked slot. 4.  The user waits five seconds for the ATM to respond. Feedback: The ATM displays "Please enter your four-digit personal identification number" on the screen. 5.  Using the physical keypad attached to the ATM, the user correctly enters their four-digit PIN. 6.  The user presses the Enter key. […] 7.  The user removes their bank card and returns it to their wallet. 8.  The user watches the screen for 15 seconds. Feedback: The ATM redisplays the welcome message. 9.  The customer leaves.
  10. Ideation/Develop Alternatives Multiple alternatives increases the probability of success Most

    developers tend to adopt a "satisficing" strategy that focuses on initial, satisfactory, but less than optimal, solutions. Never be satisfied with a single opinion or the first idea. It is best to "saturate the design space" with ideas before making decisions and to consider alternatives (i.e., better design solutions, throughout the design process). Ball, L.J., Evans, J.B.T. And Dennis, I. (1994), Cognitive processes in engineering design: A longitudinal study, Ergonomics, 37(11), 1753-1786.
  11. Brainstorming Rules •  Defer judgment •  Encourage wild ideas • 

    Build on the ideas of others •  Stay focused on topic •  One conversation at a time •  Be visual •  Go for quantity
  12. Card Sorting Workshops •  “great exercise, I’d use this in

    my own work!” •  “chance to get involved at basic level” •  “good to interact & hear how others in team were thinking”
  13. What prototyping will uncover •  Usability issues. All the things

    you typically find in usability testing - confusing concepts, poor terminology, layout problems, lack of feedback, etc. •  Missing (or misspecificed) functional requirements. Users often have needs that the development team isn't aware of, or the team may have a mistaken assumption about what functionality will satisfy a user requirement. •  Preference for one design alternative. Sometimes there are multiple ways to provide a function and they're equally easy to implement. But users may have a clear preference for one way over another. http://www.paperprototyping.com/what_examples.html
  14. Mockups/Prototyping 1. Company info 2. Insurance info for company 3.

    My (current user) info 4. Other users on this account 5. My sales rep contact info 6 Current account plan 7. Link to change search preferences 8. Date account was created 9. People rarely view or change insurance info 10. Any user can edit anything except other users' info 11. Changing password is the most likely action 12. People might come here to change search preferences (which are on a separate page) http://37signals.com/papers/introtopatterns/
  15. 1. Company info 2. Insurance info for company 4. Other

    users on this account 5. My sales rep contact info 6. Current account plan 9. People rarely view or change insurance info 10. Any user can edit anything except other users' info 10. Any user can edit anything except other users' info 10. Any user can edit anything except other users' info 10. Any user can edit anything except other users' info 3. My (current user) info 11. Changing password is the most likely action 10. Any user can edit anything except other users' info A B C D E F 8. Date account was created G 7. Link to change search preferences 12. People might come here to change search preferences (which are on a separate page) H
  16. 2. Insurance info for company 9. People rarely view or

    change insurance info 10. Any user can edit anything except other users' info B 4. Other users on this account 10. Any user can edit anything except other users' info D 6. Current account plan 10. Any user can edit anything except other users' info F 1. Company info 10. Any user can edit anything except other users' info A 3. My (current user) info 11. Changing password is the most likely action 10. Any user can edit anything except other users' info C 5. My sales rep contact info E 8. Date account was created G 7. Link to change search preferences 12. People might come here to change search preferences (which are on a separate page) H
  17. l The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary

    so that the necessary may speak.z Hans Hofmann http://dev.uxmatters.com/MT/archives/000015.php
  18. Examples Reading and discussing scenarios Identifying opportunities for design Producing

    a paper prototype Developing a picture use scenario Presenting design ideas Group discussions DIS Seminar – Melbourne – August 2004
  19. Make the data real Walls – beyond whiteboards by Mark

    Rettig (www.marcrettig.com/writings/rettig.walls.72dpi.pdf )