advocating for usability: when, why, and how to improve user experiences

Advocating for Usability:When, Why, and How to Improve User Experiences

Daniel Pshock & Sarah ArnoldUNC Chapel Hill Libraries

OverviewWhy User Experience Matters

Usability Methods & Tools You Can Use

Be an Advocate

Resources/Further Reading

Why user experience matters

User experience encompasses who users are and what they needUsability focuses on how they interact

Usability Methods & Tools You Can UseSurveys

Qualtrics

SurveyMonkey

System Usability Scale (SUS)

Interviews

Usability Testing

Camtasia

QuickTime

Surveys

When to use surveys

Surveys are useful during new initiatives or when you want to gauge user opinion or understanding

Sample survey questions

● “Why did you come here today?”● “What are your overall thoughts?”● “What do you find frustrating?”

Don’t forget to capture demographics!

Survey services

Survey resource: System Usability Scale (SUS)10 Likert scale 1-5 questions about the system you are evaluating:

I think that I would like to use this system frequently.I found the system unnecessarily complex.I thought the system was easy to use.I think that I would need the support of a technical person to be able to use this system.I found the various functions in this system were well integrated.I thought there was too much inconsistency in this system.I would imagine that most people would learn to use this system very quickly.I found the system very cumbersome to use.I felt very confident using the system.I needed to learn a lot of things before I could get going with this system.

SUS results example from recent survey

Why surveys?

Surveys are all about getting into your user’s mind; what do they think? What’s important to them?

Interviews

When to interview

Interviews are the next step after surveys when you need more information from your users

How to conduct an interview

Reach out to usersFollow a script with basic questionsBe prepared to go down the rabbit holeTake a buddyMeet the user in their environment

What to ask

Open-ended questionsSimple vs. complexStructured vs.

UnstructuredMultiple choice questions

Why interview?

Interviews help you dig deeper into understanding users & why they do what they do

Usability testing

Usability testing

Aka “think-aloud,” this evaluation method involves observing users directly as they complete specific tasks

So, what are you thinking?

Well...

Usability testing - What to measure

So, what are you thinking?

Well...

● Success / failure● Completion time● Paths● CommentsAre users able to complete the task effectively, efficiently, & satisfactorily?

Important note:Make sure to check with IRB at your organization

A simple usability test example

“You want to check out a copy of The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner. Show me how you would do this”

All you need is 5 participants1 & a notebook*

*(recording software doesn’t hurt)

1www.nngroup.com/articles/why-you-only-need-to-test-with-5-users/

When to usability testEvaluation of the product is part of an ongoing cycle of designing, building, & evaluatingUsability tests can be done to know how real users interact with a design

Design

BuildEvaluate

1-2 tests / yearly quarter is healthy

Tools for usability testingRecording

● Camtasia / Morae

● Screencast-O-Matic (Free, PC)

● QuickTime (Free, Mac)

Guides & resources

● Usability.gov

● Steve Krug

Why usability test?Put simply, users are unlikely to use your design exactly how you thought they would.Evaluating your design allows for iterating & improving on it

Be an advocate

Library user advocacyUX librarians serve, satisfy, & advocate for the needs of library

users & patrons – they are the bottom line

Be an advocate

Gauge understanding

Dig deeper Evaluate your designs

Communicate what you find!Do not keep your findings to yourself; share them with all levels of your organization● Blogs● Newsletters● Internal presentations

Components of library UX

Building Web Systems

Questions?For resources on user experience and usability, visit libux.web.unc.edu/resources

Daniel PshockUser Experience research assistantdanpsho@gmail.com

Sarah ArnoldInstructional Technology Librarian, User Experiencesjarnold@email.unc.edu