Usability is commonly thought of as the art and science of making things easy to use. What is behind the science of usability? How do we know when something is easy, easy to learn and satisfying? Why is usability so important for any product, website, software or web application (including Rich Internet Applications)?

1. Usability Tips and Tricks for Beginners An Experience Dynamics training WEB SEMINAR With Frank Spillers, MS

7. Don’t Make Me Think* User’s lane = tasks, goals, cognitive limitations (“lazy, stupid, not savvy”), emotional, social, environmental constraints. Development lane = dev culture, business limitations, technical constraints. If users have to understand they cross into the Developer lane (confusion or an accident might happen!) Aka Minimize User Cognition *I would add: Don’t Make Me Think, Like You Had to When You Created This Product AVOID UNDERSTANDING!

12. Avoid Interface Friction Every cognitive interruption to “Flow” to “rhythm” and establishing a bond with the user (keep them feeling good) adds friction. Cooper: Cognitive friction is "the resistance encountered by human intellect when it engages with a complex system of rules that change as the problem permutes." We call this “Synch”

13. Source: Pfeiffer Consulting independent study Speed bumps= bad experience

19. Proven Trick #1: Task-Oriented Design Design based on the sequence, steps or chunks of a user’s workflow. Streamline the screen toward the task the user is trying to complete. Make the most common tasks apparent.

20. Proven Trick #2: Pre-set Defaults Use the most familiar elements. Set the most common filters or settings. Avoid configuration behavior!

21. Proven Trick #3: Group Like Items Use containership of actions (keep global and local objects separate or together). Exploit Proximity (keep controls near objects that are related).

22. Proven Trick #4: Sequence Complexity Use a “progressive disclosure” of features and content. Give users what they need, only when they need it.

23. Proven Trick #5: Deliver Aesthetics with Utility Visual or graphic design is important to capture the initial pre-cognitive processes. Remember users are information processors- they need it to work (if it doesn’t they may hate you). Never create eye candy without delivering ease of use.

25. Tested Tip #1: Understand User Roles Users wear different hats to get things done. Roles help users solve problems. Role-switching can reveal different usage scenarios. A user or person is not their role. * Think of roles as behaviors!

26. Tested Tip #2: Provide visual clues & cues Provide built-in cues for users. Provide cues about how something works- what the user should do. Affordances provide strong clues to the operations of things. Plates are for pushing. Knobs are for turning.

27. Tested Tip #3: Exploit user Context Understand users priorities, values, needs. Experience a user as they remember, share their story, reveal their requirements. Get an “on the ground” usage perspective. Context gives you the best empathy.

28. Tested Tip #4: Make Rules Transparent Never make knowledge of how something works necessary. Don’t make users figure things out. Remove the need to explore and learn. The logic of how something works stays in your head!

29. Tested Tip #5: Don’t Ask Users-- Watch Users Never ask users if they like something. Focus groups are inappropriate- stop using them for usability requirements immediately. Go out to users homes, workspaces…interview them inside their “activity space”. Ask users to “complete a task” and watch them as they problem-solve, interpret, make sense and decide what to do (with design elements).

31. thank you ! 1-800-978-9183 www.experiencedynamics.com Frank Spillers, MS [email_address]

32. Design for Users Who are they What are their needs, expectations, goals, desires What does your software have to have for them to fall in love with it… Desirability- does it have what they need?

33. Design for Tasks Design for user Tasks Tasks: areas, questions, features, problems users want to solve Successful task completion- #1 usability metric (can they do it?)