steve krug: lazy person's guide to a better world - ux lisbon 2010

UX Lx14 May 2010

The Lazy Person’s Guide to a Better World

Advantages of Doing The Least You Can Do™

© 2010 Steve Krug

And now for something…

…somewhat different Short books, short talk 20 minutes of slides, 20 minutes of

questions Questions can be about anything

Except that brief period in the late 70’s

© 2001 Steve Krug© 2010 Steve Krug

About the title

I am lazy Could happily watch Law and Order reruns

eight hours a day

But this isn’t about being lazy: It’s about being effective

I do believe you should do as little as possible when fixing usability problems


How I spent 2009


As Jakob said…

There aren’t enough usability professionals to go around

Everyone should be doing their own usability testing

This is about a few things I learned while writing the new book


What’s funny about this?

Have you ever gone to a Web site and run into a serious usability problem? [Show of hands]

Did you find yourself thinking “How can they not have noticed this? And fixed it?”

Did you go back months later and it was still there?

I’m going to tell you how that happens, and how to avoid it


Uasbility testing works

If you’ve done any testing, you know it works

Uncovers lots of problems quickly Wonderful But I’ve finally realized this is part of the

problem It takes far less resources to find

problems than to fix them You can find more in a day than you can

fix in a month


© 2001 Steve Krug

Problems you can find with just a few test participants

Problems you have the resources to fix

© 2010 Steve Krug

Things I have learned

It’s easy to get seduced into fixing the easier problems first

As a result, the most serious usability problems often remain for a long time

So I’m going to try to convince you to do two things

If you’re naturally lazy like me, you’ll embrace them happily


My solution

Two of the six maxims in my book:


© 2001 Steve Krug

Focus ruthlessly on a small number of the most important problems.

© 2010 Steve Krug

Why

Because it’s easy not to Serious problems are often there not because

you weren’t aware of them, but because you don’t know how to fix them

Fixing simple problems is easier, more appealing

Because you think you’ll fix them eventually Hate to duplicate effort The “next version” fallacy

People will continue to suffer


© 2001 Steve Krug

ruthlessly

impiedosamente

© 2010 Steve Krug

It starts with the observers

Instruct the observers After each session, write down the three

most serious problems you observed


The debriefing

Over lunch (or dinner) Right after the three test sessions Objective: Deciding what you’re going to

commit to fixing before the next round of testing


The debriefing

Go around the room Everyone contributes from their list of nine

problems Write on easel pad Leave some space for

improvements/amendments People can say “Me too!” Treat all contributions with respect Not discussing yet Stick to observed problems!


The debriefing

Decide which are most serious Some magic happens here

VotingDictatorshipHybrid

Not usually as hard as it seems BECAUSE THEY ALL SAW THE SAME BEHAVIOR

Number them

Copy the numbered list Ten is probably enough Leave space in between


The debriefing

Start at the top Work down the list Come up with rough idea of how you’ll fix

them who will do it the resources required

When you’ve allocated the resources you can commit in next month, STOP! Tear off the rest of the list Crumple it up Throw it away

Thanks to Susan Weinschenck © 2001 Steve Krug© 2010 Steve Krug

Tweak, don’t redesign

It’s easy to get sucked into redesigning Observed: “He had trouble with that menu.” Temptation: “We should redo the navigation.”

Don’t!!!!! Find the smallest change you can make

that will eliminate the serious problem for most people

Don’t get sucked into making the “perfect fix”


Do less, be happy


© 2001 Steve Krug

Thanks for all the fish

Send any questions, feedback, gripes to [email protected]

© 2010 Steve Krug

mailto:[email protected]

steve krug: lazy person's guide to a better world - ux lisbon 2010

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