Dont Make Me Think Presentation - Quick Tips Regarding Web Usability And User Testing, usability Books
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Tonight’s Agenda
Don’t Make Me Think!
• Usability
– Usability vs. Functionality
– General tips for your website
– Some examples of “Quick Fixes”
• Testing
– Why it is important
– How to do it
• A Live Usability Test Demo
–
www.dreamfields.biz
Some Quick Tips Regarding:
Web Usability &
User Testing
Jason Swackhamer
May 8, 2003
Great Lakes Web Professionals
Usability vs. Functionality
Common Usability Problems
•
Usability
– User-centered design
– Site should be Self Explanatory
•
Functionality
– Does the site work properly?
• Unclear labeling and vocabulary
• Users need to remember too much
• Graphics are cluttered and overused
• Inaccurate understanding of site design
• Poor match between site design and users’ needs
• Navigation problems
• Designed without clear target-user populations in mind
• Design is not guided by users’ goals
• Insufficient privacy and security
• Inadequate buy-in from stakeholders
• The difference being that your site may
FUNCTION properly and the user may not run
into technical problems…
• But is it USABLE...meaning is the user able to
maneuver through your site with little
difficulty…are they forced TO THINK!
The Famous 5 W’s
Where To Begin?
•
When a visitor is at our site, what we
don’t want them to have to think about:
– Where am I?
– Where should I begin?
– Where did they put _____?
– What are the most important things on this
page?
– Why did they call it that?
• Need to realize that the way we design websites
is not the way people actually use them.
– We hope that the user will suck in every pixel of
graphics and information on the screen.
– What they actually do is glance at each new page,
scan some of the text and click on first link that
catches their interest.
– We think of our site as great piece of art and literature
and the user’s reality is much closer to “billboard
going by at 60 miles an hour.”
Fact #1
Fact #2
•
We Don’t Read Pages, We Scan Them
– We’re in a hurry
• Web use is motivated by the desire to save time
– We know we don’t need to read everything
• Only interested in a bits that match our task
– We’re good at it
• We’ve been scanning newspapers, magazines and
books all our lives
•
We Don’t Make Optimal Choices, We
Satisfice
– When designing pages we assume that users will
scan, consider all options, and choose best one
– The reality is that as soon as we find a link that seems
like it might lead us to right place we click it, this is
known as satisficing.
• We’re in a hurry
• Not much penalty for being wrong
• Weighting options might not improve chances
• Guessing is more fun
Fact #3
6 Things To Do
•
We Don’t Figure Out How Things Work,
We Muddle Through
– Faced with new technology, very few people
take the time to read instructions
– People use things all the time without
understanding how they work or with
completely the wrong idea about how they
should work
• It doesn’t matter that we understand how things
work
• But when we find something that does work, we
stick with it
•
Here are 6 things to do to make sure
users see and understand as much of
your site as possible
– Create a clear visual hierarchy on each page
– Take advantage of conventions
– Break pages into clearly defined areas
– Make it obvious what is clickable
– Minimize noise
– Omit needless words
Clear Visual Hierarchy
Conventions
• The more important something thing is,
the more prominent it is
• Things that are related, are linked visually
• Things are “nested” visually to show
what’s part of what
• Bread crumbs
• Newspapers all look the same, so it is easy to
read a newspaper no matter where you are.
• Conventions are becoming more prevalent on
the web, although most derive from newspaper
and magazine conventions
– Shopping cart metaphor
– Bookmark metaphor
• Conventions allow users to quickly figure out
how things work, however everyone tries to be
unique…if it isn't broke, don’t fix it!
Break Up Pages
What’s Clickable
• Break up your pages into clearly defined areas
so that users can glance and point at different
areas and determine what they can do
• This allows users to decide quickly which areas
to focus on and which they can safely ignore
• In latest eye-tracking studies, users decide very
quickly which parts of the page have useful info
and almost never look at other parts.
• Make it obvious what is clickable
– Use conventions
• Don’t underline text
• Use default color links
• Use buttons for Search, Submit, etc… not custom
links with text and arrows
Keep Noise to Dull Roar
Keep Noise to Dull Roar
• When everything on the page is clamoring
for attention it is overwhelming
• When designing, it’s a good idea to
assume everything is visual noise until
proven otherwise
Omit Needless Words
• Most words are just taking up space
• Remove half the words is a realistic goal
– It reduces noise level
– Makes the useful content more prominent
– Makes pages shorter
• Eliminate Happy Talk
– Self-congratulatory promo writing
• Eliminate Instructions
– If site is good, don’t need them
– The exception is using forms, however good design
eliminates excessive explanation
HOME-RUN Websites
•
Reason why users return to websites:
–
H
igh quality content
–
O
ften updated
–
M
inimal download time
–
E
ase of use
•
To make your site a great site:
–
R
elevant to users’ needs
–
U
nique to the online medium
–
N
et-centric corporate culture
How to Determine Good Design
• A visitor should be able to answer the following
questions quickly when a page is designed well
– What site is this? (Site ID)
– What page am I on? (Page name)
– What are the major options at this level? (Sections)
– What are my options at this level? (local navigation)
– Where am I in the scheme of things? (You are Here
indicator)
– How can I search?
Back to the Home Page
• The Home page is THE page and must accommodate all
we talked about AND
– Site identify and mission
– Site hierarchy
– Search
– Teases
– Timely content
– Deals
– Short-cuts
– Registration
– Show me what I’m looking for…and what I’m not looking for
– Show me where to start
– Establish credibility and trust
• Therefore the Home page does NOT have to follow
same design as content pages
Get the Message Across
Other Home Page Tips
• Tagline
– Efficient way to get message across
– Should be clear and informative
– Only six to eight words
– Convey differentiation and a clear benefit
• Welcome Blurb
– Don’t use mission statement as welcome
– A description of the site, displayed in a
prominent block that’s visible without scrolling
• The home page must allow the user to
easily know where to begin
– Unique navigation
• Can be different, but not too different
Other Home Page Tips
• Four ways to “Kill” a
home page
– Putting a banner ad on
if you don’t have to
– Promoting everything
– Letting deals drive the
Home page design
– Getting greedy for
data
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