2. Session
• About me
• What – Is usability?
• When - Process and techniques overview
• How - Techniques explained and how to adapt in-house
• Why - Common usability requirements and how to solve
• Usability examples and questions
3. About me
• Graduated as Product Designer
• Have worked in various
industries working with IT
projects
• Intranet manager for 5 years
• Trained in usability
• Working full time as Senior User
Experience Consultant for
SimpleUsability Ltd
fi_harwood
4. About SimpleUsability
• SimpleUsability is a behavioural research consultancy
• We combine a unique methodology with the latest
technology to provide invaluable insight and add value to
our clients’ businesses
• Established in 2001, twelve strong team
• Core experience lies in retail, travel & leisure and financial
services sectors
5. What is Usability?
• Usefulness
• Learnability
• Effectiveness
• Efficiency
• Memorability
• Errors
• Satisfaction
7. How – Overview of usability techniques
• Expert reviews
• User testing
• Eye tracking
• Card sorting
• Paper prototyping
• Field studies
8. How – Other methods
• Focus Groups
– Don’t always do what they say they do
– Doesn’t encourage the quiet user
– Listening to rather than observing users
• Web analytics
– Don’t know why
• Email feedback / surveys / panels
– Super user, committed to the cause and not the average user
9. How – Expert Reviews
Pros:
• Catches many usability problems
before testing takes place
• Cost effective
• Actionable report for project team
Problems:
• Needs to be followed up by user
testing
Why?
• How do we compare?
• What’s working, what’s not?
10. How – User Testing
Pros:
• Testing on real users
• Observe behaviour
Problems:
• Software investment
• Requires trained moderators
Why? Screen capture software
http://www.techsmith.com/morae.html
• How easy is the user journey?
• What are the main barriers?
• How is a particular part working?
11. How – Usability methodology
• Concurrent Think Aloud
o Encourage the user to say what
they are thinking
o Use unfinished questions, you
were expecting
o Gets feedback there and then
• Retrospective Think Aloud
o Play back video or repeat a path
how
to the user and ask them what why
what
they were thinking at the time
task end wrap
o Allows user to naturally
complete the task
12. How – Eye Tracking
Pros:
• Totally natural
• Relaxed, detailed feedback
• Proven effectiveness
• Evidence based results
Problems:
• Requires expert moderation
• Investment
Why?
• How do users interact naturally?
• What are users missing?
14. About Eye Tracking
Eye Tracking Monitor
• The non-invasive way
• More accurate
• Works with glasses /
contact lenses
Live View of the
Eye Tracking
15. How – Card Sorting
Pros:
• Get real users to design the IA
• Solve categorisation problems
Problems:
• Needs large number of participants
• Needs analysis
Why?
• How should I structure the site?
• What should I call this label?
Donna Spencer
http://www.rosenfeldmedia.com/books/cardsorting/
16. How – Paper Prototyping
Pros:
• Quick
• Cheap
Problems:
• Needs to be followed up by more
testing of the actual interface
Why?
• How can I quickly check if a
workflow makes sense to users?
Caroline Snyder
http://www.paperprototyping.com/about.html
17. How – Field Studies
Pros:
• User is relaxed in their own environment
• Can be done in the office environment
• Moderator gets to observe the system
used in situation
Problems:
• Investment in time to go out of the office
• Testing will not be controlled
Why?
• What external effects are there on the user
journey?
18. How – Moderation
• Be neutral
• Don’t blame the user or defend the design
• Acknowledge
• Let the user get on with the task but encourage them if necessary
• Listen and react
• Know when to intervene
• Don’t let a user suffer but a user struggling to complete a task can give
you the evidence that you need
• Users who want to talk (and not want to talk)
• Watch your language (and your body language)
• Open ended questions
19. How – Moderation
• The alternative guessing game
– One person is the moderator
– One person is the user
• Rules
– Only questions that will result in an answer of more than 3 words
– Can’t ask a question that will result in the answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’
– Try and ask as few questions in order to guess the object
20. How – Moderation – How to ask why
• Open ended questions
• What worked?
• Can
• Would
• What
• What didn’t work?
• Is
• Did
