Usability 101: The Principles of Usability Engineering Tuesday, August 6, 2002

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Usability 101 The Principles of Usability
EngineeringTuesday, August 6, 2002
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Agenda

• Discuss the value of user-centered design
• Describe the user-centered design and usability
  engineering lifecycle
• Discuss the usability testing process

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Who We Are

• Communication Technologies Branch (CTB)
• National Cancer Institutes Office of
  Communications
• CTB Mission
• To analyze, design, evaluate, and test
  communications technology systems, (Web sites,
  software, mobile technologies) to make them more
  usable, useful, and accessible

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Why We Do It

• Failure of Web sites
• Users find information theyre seeking on Web
  sites only 42 of the time (Spool study of 15
  large commercial sites)
• Only 51 of sites complied with simple Web
  usability principles (Forrester study of 20 major
  sites)
• Sixty-two percent of web shoppers gave up looking
  for an item (Zona study)

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Traditional Development Process
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How We Do It

• Usability Engineering
• An evidence-based methodology that involves end
  users in the design, testing, and evaluation
  processes to produce information systems that are
  measurably easier to use, learn, and remember
• Process involves
• Data collection about users needs/wants/behavior
• Prototype development
• Usability testing
• Iterative design/usability testing

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How We Do It

• Research-Based Approach
• This approach applies the latest design and
  testing research to the development of
  communication technology systems, products, and
  services
• Modeled after the scientific communitys movement
  toward evidence-based medicine/science
• Involves a review of the research data related to
  Web design, usability, accessibility, and more
• Identifies gaps in the research many areas have
  yet to be studied

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Why We Do It

• Usability Engineering Works
• Its user-centric (not developer-centric)
• Its based on data, not opinions
• Its testable and verifiable
• Its performance-driven
• Saves money and time
• Research-based Information Design Works
• Removes much of the controversy in opinion
• Performance oriented measurably
  better/faster/etc.
• Takes the guesswork out allows you to focus on
  what you dont know to solve problems

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Usability Engineering Process

• Steps in the process
• Planning
• Gathering user data
• Analyzing data
• Translating data into design
• Designing initial prototypes
• Testing prototypes
• Refining prototypes, retesting, retesting

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Planning

• Planning Steps
• Define purpose / vision for the site
• Develop measurable business objectives user
  goals
• Define primary / secondary audiences
• Determine measurable usability objectives
• Discuss expectations and requirements
• Timeline and project plan

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Planning

• What is the purpose of the site?
• Why are we building a site?
• What are the goals of the site?
• Why are we developing a web site?
• What does success look like?
• How will we know when we have been successful?
• Who are we developing the site for?
• Who is the site for? (User characteristics)
• Why will they come to the site? (User needs,
  interests and goals)
• When/where will they access the site? (User
  environment)
• What will they do on the site? (User tasks and
  priorities of tasks)

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Planning

• What are our usability objectives?
• Effectively (Ability to accomplish tasks)
• Efficiently (Ability to accomplish with speed and
  ease)
• Satisfying (Pleasing to users)
• What are project teams preferences?
• Is there a vision of what the site will do and/or
  look like?
• Are there any restraints or mandates for the
  site?
• Are there any web site styles you prefer?
• Timeline and Project Plan

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Planning

• Difference between business vs. user goals
• E-Commerce Sites
• To generate revenue
• To research products and prices
• Intranets
• Improve employee communication
• Get work done fast
• Information-Based Sites
• To provide evidence-based research information
• To find information

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Gather User Data

• Methods of Data Collection
• Personal Interviews
• Contextual Inquiries
• Focus Groups
• Surveys
• Support Line/Phone Calls
• E-mail
• Web Logs

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Personal Interviews

• What is it?
• Discussion with users to learn about their goals,
  tasks and environment
• How to do it?
• Use open-ended questions
• Probe on problems
• Do not give positive or negative signals
• Benefits/Disadvantages?
• Learning from users first-hand
• Users do not always recall processes accurately
• What users say and do are not always the same

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Contextual Inquiries

• What is it?
• Observational method
• Improves understanding of existing processes and
  steps
• How to do it?
• Observe users in their natural environment
• Observe users carrying out tasks, naturally
• Do not give positive or negative signals
• Benefits/Disadvantages?
• Relies on observation, not users recollection
• Gather data users may not be able to vocalize
• Time-consuming

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Surveys
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Surveys
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Gather User Data

• Need to design for user not let user design for
  you
• Were developing a website. What tasks would you
  like to be able to do on a website for health
  communications planning? What would you like to
  be able to find?
• What are the four most important steps in
  planning a health communication campaign? What
  are some challenges you encounter when planning
  campaigns?
• Users have limited amount of technical knowledge

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Translating Data into Design

• User Profiles / Personas
• Characteristics about user, environment, and
  tasks
• List or narrative
• Task Analysis
• Lists of tasks prioritized by frequency and
  importance
• Process Flows
• User and Site Goals
• List of measurable goals
• Design Considerations
• Guidelines based in research
• User considerations

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User Profile or Persona

• User Characteristics
• Environmental Characteristics
• Goal Task Characteristics

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User Profile or Persona

• User Characteristics
• Demographics
• age
• gender
• ethnicity
• income
• language
• disability
• occupation
• education
• learning needs
• internet/computer experience

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User Profile or Persona

• Environment Characteristics
• Location
• home/work
• indoor/outdoor
• Workspace
• cramped/spacious
• bright/dim lighting
• Hardware
• monitor size
• connection speed
• video/sound card
• Software
• browser
• resolution
• plug-ins

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User Profile or Persona

• Goals / Tasks Characteristics
• Tasks
• information-based
• functionality-oriented
• Number
• how many
• Flow
• order of tasks
• Importance
• most to least
• Frequency
• most to least

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User Persona

• Sarah Parker
• Sarah is a Senior Marketing Specialist with
  seven years of experience planning health
  campaigns.
• She works in a large office where she handles
  multiple projects. She is constantly busy and
  struggles with a limited budget.
• Sarah can easily identify the steps necessary to
  carry out each project. She doesnt need help
  determining how to approach the planning process
  and mainly uses the various resources available
  as a reference.
• Sarah would appreciate any tool or resource that
  could help her get her work done faster and more
  efficiently.

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User Personas

• Maria Green
• Maria is a junior specialist and is relatively
  new to the health communication planning field.
• Although Maria faces many of the same challenges
  as Sarah, including lack of time, constrained
  budgets, insufficient support, she has less
  experience than Sarah.
• Unlike Sarah, Maria does not have any formal
  training in planning and is less familiar with
  the steps required to develop a plan. Maria
  relies heavily on resources to help with her
  work.
• She currently used an interactive tool, but has
  an older computer that cannot handle all of the
  features in the program. In addition, Maria has
  a very slow internet connection which limits the
  resources she can access online.

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Task Analysis

• Task List
• Lists of tasks prioritized by frequency and
  importance
• Task Flow Diagrams
• Drawings that show tasks in the order performed
• Task Scenarios
• Narrative descriptions of a task
• User and Task Matrix
• Matrices that show which users perform which
  tasks

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User Goals

• Efficiency
• How well should the user be able to perform?
• Within a certain time
• With a certain degree of accuracy (error rates)
• For a certain percentage of users
• Learning
• How long should it take a user to learn the
  interface?
• After not using the interface for awhile, how
  long should it take for the user to get back up
  to speed?
• Satisfaction
• How will the interface avoid inducing user
  boredom, discomfort, frustration, or work
  overload?

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User Site Goals

• Measurable Success Factors for the Site
• Increase revenue generated by the site by __ by
  ___.
• Increase number of registered users by __ by
  ___.
• Reduce number of customer service calls from ___
  to ___ by ___.
• Measurable Success Factors for Users
• 75 of all users will be able to load the
  software correctly on the first attempt in less
  than 10 minutes.
• 75 of users will be able to successfully locate
  the Contact Us page on the web site with a
  minimum of two incorrect clicks and in less then
  2 minutes.
• 75 of user will have a satisfaction rating of 7
  or above (on a 10-point scale) after using the
  site for the first time.

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Design the Initial Prototype

• Based on needs of users, e.g.,
• Priority of tasks and content
• Organization of information, taxonomies, labeling
• Font size, color palette, contrast, legibility,
• Writing style and level
• Layout, screen density
• Complexity, accelerators
• Training, help, tooltips, error management

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Designing the Initial Prototype

• Guidelines based on research
• Enhance scanning by providing clear links,
  headings, short phrases and sentences, and short
  paragraphs
• Provide most important information at highest
  point on page
• Dont rely on expert evaluations (heuristic
  reviews) to fix site problems
• Use parallel design to create prototypes
• Research-based Web design usability site
• http//usability.gov/research

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Usability Defined

• Usefulness
• Degree to which users can successfully achieve
  goals
• Effectiveness (ease of use)
• Ability of users to accomplish goals with speed
  ease
• Learnability
• Ability to operate the system to some defined
  level of competence after some predetermined
  amount/period of training
• Satisfaction / Likeability
• Attitude of users, includes perceptions, feelings
  and opinions of the product
• Booth, Paul. An Introduction to Human-Computer
  Interaction. London Lawrence Erlbaum
  Associates, 1989.

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Usability Testing

• Planning
• Define goals
• Determine who will participate
• Select appropriate tasks
• Plan logistics
• Conducting
• Assign roles
• Collect data
• Analyzing implementing results
• Prioritize findings
• Implement retest

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Usability Testing

• Define usability goals
• Performance
• Measurements
• speed
• errors / success
• learning, training time
• Preference
• Measurements
• user satisfaction

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Usability Testing

• Determine who will participate
• User profiles
• Match characteristics from user analysis
• Select representative group of users
• Selecting participants
• Recruiting recruitment firms, databases,
  conferences
• Numbers target numbers, floaters
• Schedule allow recoup time
• Pre-Questionnaires profile of participants
• Incentives consent payment form

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Usability Testing

• Select Appropriate Tasks
• Task List
• Prioritize by
• Frequency
• Importance
• Vulnerability
• Readiness
• Ensure each task is measurable. Define measures
  ahead of time
• Include pathway information for observers
• Conduct pilot test to look for give-away wording
  or confusing scenarios

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Usability Testing

• Create Scenarios
• Find two clinical trials that relate to breast
  cancer prevention
• View a demonstration of how this site works
• Create an account on this site
• What are todays rates for a 25-year fixed-rate
  mortgage?

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Usability Testing

• Plan Logistics
• Test location
• Lab, office, usability / market research facility
• Prepare for observers
• One-way glass observation room
• Projected onto screen in adjoining room
• Traffic flow of participants
• Audio video recording
• Value of highlight tape

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Usability Testing

• Plan Logistics
• Materials needed
• Screening questionnaire
• Background questionnaire
• Pre- and Post-test questionnaires
• Video release form
• Incentive signature form
• Schedule
• Facilitators guide
• Participants scenarios
• Observers scenarios (with pathways included)
• Data collection materials (with measurements
  defined)

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Usability Testing

• Assigning roles
• Facilitator
• Next to participant or in adjoining room
• Role (see handout)
• Observers
• Role (see handout)

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Usability Testing

• Video Highlight Tape

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Usability Testing

• What makes a good facilitator?
• Clear understanding of goals
• Good listening skills
• Impartial not wedded to a particular design
• Quick thinking
• Flexible and adaptable
• Put people at ease get them to open up
• Able to walk in shoes of others
• What else?

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Usability Testing

• Collecting data
• Performance (Objective)
• Usually Quantitative
• Time to complete a task
• Time to recover from an error
• Number of errors
• Percentage of tasks completed successfully
• Number of clicks
• Pathway information
• Preference (Subjective)
• Usually Qualitative
• Preference of versions
• Suggestions and comments
• Ratings or rankings (can be quantitative)

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Usability Testing

• Analyzing the data
• Quantitative data
• Statistics (number of clicks, errors rate, time,
  etc.)
• Look for trends
• Qualitative data
• Attitude, comments

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Usability Testing

• Prioritize findings
• Usability goals met?
• Prioritize tasks that performed the worst
  according to goals
• Prioritize findings by frequency / importance
• Prioritize recommendations by feasibility
• Implement and retest!

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Other Evaluation Methods

• Card Sorting
• Paper Prototyping
• Heuristic Evaluations / Usability Reviews

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Card Sorting

• What is it?
• Explores how users group items
• Helps to develop structures that are logical to
  users
• Maximizes probability of users finding info
• Identifies items that are hard to categorize
• Identifies terms that are interpreted differently
  by different types of users

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Card Sorting

• How to do it?
• Participants are given a set of cards, with one
  item per card
• Participants sort cards (content items) into
  logical categories and assign labels to
  categories
• Participants may sort cards into pre-defined
  categories
• Participants may be asked to rename the
  individuals cards or think of synonyms
• Benefits/Disadvantages?
• Helps to develop categories that are logical to
  users
• Helps to identify the items that need to be
  renamed
• Helps with terminology
• Sometimes it is difficult to analyze, tools have
  limitations

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Paper Prototyping

• What is it?
• Low-tech method that allows you to test early,
  before design and development
• Paper drawings of pages
• How to do it?
• Participants are shown the paper prototype and
  given scenarios
• Participants are asked to point to where they
  would click
• Benefits/Disadvantages?
• Helps to find problems early
• Low-cost, saves development time
• Help determine affordance (does it look
  clickable)

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Heuristic Evaluation

• What is it?
• Expert review of web site based on established
  usability guidelines
• How do you do it?
• Conducted by usability expert (best to include
  multiple reviewers)
• Experts review site for compliance/noncompliance
  with established principles
• Benefits/Disadvantages?
• Provides a reference of issues to be tested
• Subjective
• Not always accurate, identifies false positives
• Not real users

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Research and Resources

• Usability.gov Web Site
• Online resource for those involved in Web site
  design
• Research-Based Web Design/Usability Guidelines
• Topics Web site goals, alignment, headers,
  fonts/line length, frames, graphics, scrolling,
  download times, accessibility, page size,
  controls
• Format Guideline, comments, strength of
  research, source, graphic examples (do this/dont
  do that)
• U-Group
• Provides tips, tools, and information about
  developing useful, usable Web sites and other
  health information systems

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Contact

• Communication Technologies Branch (CTB)
• Office of Communications National Cancer
  Institute
• Cari A. Wolfson
• 6116 Executive Blvd, Suite 3048A
• Rockville, MD 20852
• 301/496-1308 fax [phone]
• wolfsonc_at_nih.gov