How Not To Get Noticed: WordPress Usability Analysis Findings

How *Not* To Get Noticed
Usability Analysis of WordPress

How *Not* To Get Noticed WordCamp 2007

People don’t notice
good design ...


... and people will do stuff
when design fails.


Matt brought a small team in to analyze WordPress.


“That’s when I know
WordPress is doing its job:
when people aren’t even aware
they’re using it because
they’re so busy using it!
—Mark Jaquith, 21 February 2007

http://markjaquith.wordpress.com/2007/02/21/engine-awareness/


Our goals were simple:


Findability,


consistency,


and something called
“unconscious design” or
“transparent design.”


To start, we could have looked at other models.


Solo Blogger Power User Pro Admin

Consultant Teacher

But instead, developed personas based on research.


We learned some things:


Users don’t care what
designers intended.


Most visited screens by numbers
index.php
index.php?page=stats
post.php
post-new.php
edit.php
themes.php
widgets.php
page.php
edit-comments.php
options-general.php


Most people we talked to ignore most of the page.


So we considered a redesign like this.


Global Navigation

Dashboard
Right Now Recent Comments See All | Edit Blog All | Edit | RSS

You have [19] unpublished posts, [27]
scheduled posts, and [31] comments in
[9] categories.

Write a New Post

You use the [Hemmingway] theme.

Change your Theme

You're using WordPress [x.x].

Update to WordPress [2.2]

Stats See All | Edit Incoming Links See All | Edit Plugins See All | Edit | RSS

But research showed that more was needed.


People don’t like surprises.


“You have to show people
something they've
never seen before.
And if they've seen it,
you have to show them
in a new way.”
—Lorelle VanFossen, yesterday


People like it when you know
what they’re thinking.


People think of their media as objects.


And people refer to objects using nouns.


Nouns!


People should navigate by nouns, not verbs.


Users didn’t get it.


“Refer or relate an old post
to a new one” “Post excerpt”
“Moderate comments
(approve/disapprove”
“Add image to post” “Write a new blog post”
“Post author”
“Post a video”
“Respond to comments”
“Post a photo from
my ﬂickr account”
“Change my
password”
10
9
8
Activity

7
6
5
4
3
2
1

Manage Create Posts Comments My Proﬁle Plugins

Blog administrator Advanced users, 2+ years Novice to mid-range, 1 year or less


Clearer verbs as navigation worked.


People got it.


Drafts are not drafts
most of the time.


Working on it
Working on it In progress
Working on it
Starting idea Saving for reference

Saving for reference
In progress
Removed from blog
Removed from blog


Drafts


People like the
whole truth.


The Present


The Future


Show when possible.


People tend to have one
thing to say at a time.


After publishing a post, users see a new Post screen.


But they have nothing more to write.


They need suggestions. Nexts. And reassurance.


Be voyeurs.
Don’t surprise people.
Anticipate what people need.
Don’t be brief at the cost of clarity.
Show, don’t tell.
Never stop at a dead end.


Get Unnoticed.
www.happycog.com
www.bobulate.com

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