USABILITY FOR ALL BUDGETSElan Lennardwww.glamourgeek.com

What is Usability?

Usability is the ease with which a user interacts with

software

* As relates to what I’m discussing today

Why Does Usability Matter?

• By designing something that is intuitive to use, the user doesn’t need to contact support or read the manual

Designing for the user

• Changes to user interfaces late in the development cycle adds risk to schedule slippage and costs more money in engineering and QA time

Preventing costly changes

• Most users don’t like using software unless it is on an Apple product. Easy, fun software creates an emotional connection that is stronger than anything you can create with good marketing and a lot of features

Making products fun to use

When To Test For Usability

Sign off on Market

Requirements

Specify Functionality

Create UI Prototypes

Usability TestingBegin Coding

Beta Test

Release

Product Developmen

t

We’ve No Time For Usability Tests Usability testing can take anywhere from a couple of

weeks to a couple of months in preparation, execution and review

Performing usability tests early in the development cycle will ensure that the UI design is right the first time. Changes late in the product cycle require massive upheaval to the code, introducing bugs and risking inconsistency in the user interface layer

Some might say that you don’t have time to not do usability testing

Methods of Ensuring Good HCI Engineer in a bubble

Pro: Fast GUI Design Con: Engineer has little idea how the customer uses the

product Guess

Pro: Fast GUI Design Con: Can go terribly wrong

Formal Usage Studies Pro: Controlled environment Con: Expensive

One-on-one Usage Studies Pro: Users are accessible Con: Can be difficult to schedule visits via the Sales team

Isn’t Usability Testing Expensive? The way companies like Google, Microsoft and Apple do it?

Two-way mirror for observation by engineers, Product Managers and QA staff

Dedicated Test Lab Mouse/keystroke recording Video Camera Lasers to track eye movements (lasers are cool!)

But you can get great results from testing on a budget, too Sit next to tester Manually take down observations Use standard digital camera for recording

> £10,000

< £2,000

Where To Start1. Choose core functionality to test2. Create list of simple tasks for user to follow and

questionnaireOpen a file, edit file, insert image, export, print, save

3. Schedule a week of developer’s time to mock-up interactive prototypes in Flash or UI Layer (might require bribery)

Does not need to be functional, simply emulate specified functionality

4. Recruit typical users to participateNewsgroups, personal network, former colleagues

5. Set up computer, camera on tripod in corner, one printed version of tasks /questionnaire for each tester

Reviewing The ResultsUsability testing is only as good as the

information you obtain from itHCI Designer Is the interface easy to use?

Developers Do the menu items and buttons need to be moved or renamed?

Product Manager

Did the users understand the product?Are we on the right track?

Quality Assurance

How much user interface testing will be required?

Support Where will we see a big support burden for ‘How-to’ questions?

Impact of Improved HCI To Engineering

No more designing in a bubble More confidence in their work

To Support Happier callers Fewer GUI calls

To Sales Able to demonstrate new features in a personalized

demo to potential customers To the user

Feel that they are being heard Find it easier to get their work done after seeing new

features

Remember… You do not know how customers will

interact with your product

Your developers are most likely not HCI experts and shouldn’t be expected to design the UI

Only by viewing actual target users will you and your team know if you’re on the right track

The Actual Tests1. Usability tester arrives, sits at computer2. Sit down with them and explain what

you wish them to do3. The user should go through the tasks

on their own, with no instruction4. They should speak aloud as they

progress and where they confused5. After completing the tasks, have the

user fill in a questionnaire about their experience with the software

Further Reading Advancements in Human/Computer Interaction by Jakob Nielsen

www.useit.com

The Usability Engineering Lifecycle by Deborah Mayhew

Don’t Make Me Think by Steve Krug

Inside Google’s Usability Labs (article) http://news.cnet.com/2300-11386_3-10005210.html

And the font of all knowledge, Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human%E2%80%93computer_interaction

Tools Morae

Software for recording and tracking mouse movements

Krut Free software on SourceForge for screen and audio capture