Prioritizing Web Usability Nielsen and Loranger Chapter 3

Prioritizing Web Usability Nielsen and Loranger Chapter 3: Revisiting Early Web Usability Findings Paul Ammann http: //cs. gmu. edu/~pammann/ SWE 432 Design and Implementation of Software for the Web

Overview • • Eight Problems that Haven’t Changed Technological Change: Its Impact on Usability Adaptation: How Users Have Influenced Usability Restraint: How Designers Have Alleviated Usability Problems 34 Usability Problems: Improved vs. Irrelevant vs. More Important Than Ever 9/17/2020 2

Eight Problems That Haven’t Changed • • Links That Don’t Change Color When Visited Breaking the Back Button Opening New Browser Windows Pop-Up Windows Design Elements That Look Like Advertising Violating Web-Wide Conventions Vaporous Content and Empty Hype Dense Content and Unscannable Text Why Do We Still Do These Things? 9/17/2020 3

1: Links That Don’t Change Color When Visited • Users Need to Understand – Where They Have Been – Where They Are – Where They Can Go • Users Go in Circles If They Lose The Past • 74% of Sites Comply With Guideline – 26% Are Still Deficient! • Exception: Command Oriented Functionality – If Users Want To Repeat Actions, Links Can Stay The Same Color Support User’s Need To Be Oriented 9/17/2020 4

2: Breaking The Back Button • • “Undo” Support Is a Basic Usability Requirement Repeated “Back” vs. Pull Down History List Second Most Used Feature in Web Browsing Benefits: – Back is Always Available – Recognition is Better than Recall – The Back Button is a Large (and Fast) Target • Ways to Break the Back Button – Hiding the “Chrome” – Opening a New Brower Window – Redirects Embedded in Web Pages 9/17/2020 “Back” is the User’s Lifeline © Offutt, 2001 -2007 5

3: Opening New Browser Windows • Opening A New Window Breaks the Back Button – But Doesn’t Effectively Trap Users On Your Site • Multiple Windows Present Multiple Usability Problems – – – Disrupts Expected User Experience Pollutes User’s Work Space Hampers Ability To Return To Visited Pages Obscures Window User Is Working In Can Make User Believe Links Are Inactive • Users Can Always Right Click For A New Window • Exception – PDF and Similar Documents Leave New Windows Up to the User 9/17/2020 © Offutt, 2001 -2007 6

4: Pop-Up Windows • Consider Pop-Up Blockers – A Clear Indication That Users Hate Pop-Ups • • • Many Users Close Pop-Ups Before Seeing the Content Closing a Pop-Up Invariably Requires The Mouse Evil Pop-Ups Form The Vast Majority Pop-Ups Are Especially Hard For Certain Users Theoretical Legitimate Use For Pop-Ups – Provide Supplementary Info While Keeping Workspace Clear Don’t Use Them 9/17/2020 7

5: Design Elements That Look Like Advertisements • Users Automatically Filter Out Anything That Looks Like An Ad – – Basic Self-Defense Mechanism Includes Anything Shaped Like A Banner Anything Flashing Anything That is Too Big • Users Usually Look For Text – Because That’s Where Most Links Are User Behavior Evolves As The Environment Changes 9/17/2020 8

6: Violating Web-Wide Conventions • Users Spend Most Time On Other Web Sites – Expectations For Your Site Set By Other Sites • Example: Zinc Bistro – Things That Look Clickable Should be Clickable – Don’t Hide Links in Weird Places User’s Don’t Care About You; They Want Your Data 9/17/2020 9

7: Vaporous Content and Empty Hype • Basic Marketing – Sell The Benefits, Not the Features • Search Engine Optimization – Concrete Text Leads To Better Rankings • Example: Mont Blanc Fluffy Language Drives Users Away AND Hides Your Site 9/17/2020 10

8: Dense Content and Unscannable Text • Unpacking Dense Text is Hard Work – Users are Lazy • Government Sites Are Prime Offenders – Example: Social Security Answer Desk • Web Text Should be Short, Scannable, and Approachable – Write Half (or a Quarter) as Many Words For Web as for Print This is Really Hard to Do, But it’s Important 9/17/2020 11

Technological Change: Its Impact on Usability • • Slow Download Time Frames Flash Low-Relevancy Search Listings Multi. Media and Long Videos Frozen Layouts Cross Platform Incompatibility Less Important Today Because of Better Browsers, More Bandwidth, or Other Internet Technology 9/17/2020 12

Adaptation: How Users Have Influenced Usability • • • Uncertain Clickability Links that Aren’t Blue Scrolling Registration Complex URLs Pull-Down and Cascading Menus Less Important Today Because Users Know More 9/17/2020 13

Restraint: How Designers Have Alleviated Usability Problems • • Plug-Ins and Bleeding Edge Technologies 3 D User Interfaces Bloated Design Splash Pages Moving Graphics and Scrolling Text Custom GUI Widgets Not Disclosing Who’s Behind Information Web Designers Are Getting Smarter 9/17/2020 14

Restraint: How Designers Have Alleviated Usability Problems (2) • • • Made-Up Words Outdated Content Inconsistency Within a Web Site Premature Requests for Personal Information Multiple Sites Orphan Pages Web Designers Are Getting Smarter 9/17/2020 15