Usability Basics for the Information Professional Uta HussongChristian

Usability Basics for the Information Professional Uta Hussong-Christian Jane Nichols September 20, 2012 SLA Oregon Chapter

we are… Uta Jane

overview • • • Testing feedback > Uta What > Jane Methods > Uta/Jane Using usability data > Uta Reporting > Jane Q & A

what is usability? • Usability refers to how well your users can learn and use your web site • And, refers to the methods used to evaluate your user’s experience of your site U. S. D. H. H. S. , “Usability Basics”

usability and user experience Usability User experience • “Can the user accomplish their goal? ” • Did they choose the right form (book, article, etc. ) for their request? • “Did the user have as delightful an experience as possible? ” • Were they able to move from identifying a citation in a database to filling out a request form and go back to the database or their next task with feeling of ease? Mifsud, “The difference between usability and user experience”

5 usability attributes • • • Ease of learning Efficiency Memorability Error frequency and severity Subjective satisfaction U. S. D. H. H. S. , “Usability Basics”

Ease of learning Efficiency of use Memorability Error frequency and severity Subjective satisfaction Can new users learn your site well enough to accomplish basic tasks? Can I locate the journal I want with ease? U. S. D. H. H. S. , “Usability Basics”

Ease of learning Efficiency Memorability Error frequency and severity Subjective satisfaction How quickly can tasks be completed after the design has been learned? Can I navigate to the journal quickly? Nielsen, “Usability 101” U. S. D. H. H. S. , “Usability Basics”

Ease of learning Efficiency of use Memorability Error frequency and severity Subjective satisfaction When your users return to your site after not using it, how easily can they reestablish proficiency? Can I get back to the journal when I want to next week? Nielsen, “Usability 101” U. S. D. H. H. S. , “Usability Basics”

Ease of learning Efficiency of use Memorability Error frequency and severity Subjective satisfaction U. S. D. H. H. S. , “Usability Basics” U. S. D. H. . , “Usability Basics How often do users make errors, how serious are they & how easily do they recover? After I secured the article I wanted, I searched the vendors’ site for related topics. How do I return to the libraries journal list? Nielsen, “Usability 101” U. S. D. H. H. S. , “Usability Basics”

Ease of learning Efficiency of use Memorability Error frequency and severity Subjective satisfaction How much does the user like using the system? Fun factor, or at least pleasing U. S. D. H. H. S. , “Usability Basics”

more about user experience Morville, “User Experience Design”

getting started Q: How many usability experts does it take to change a light bulb? A: It might well be four: • 2 to conduct a field study and task analysis to determine whether people really need light • 1 to observe the user who actually screws in the light bulb • 1 to control the video camera filming the event Nielsen, “Guerrilla HCI”

Step-by-Step Usability Guide Plan Analyze Design Test & Refine Adapted from U. S. D. H. H. S. , “Visual map”

Usability. Net. org, “Methods table”

3 methods • heuristic evaluation • task analysis • x’s/o’s

heuristic (adj) encouraging a person to learn, discover, understand, or solve problems on his or her own, as by experimenting, evaluating possible answers or solutions, or by trial and error Dictionary. com, “Heuristic”

heuristic evaluation What – systematic inspection of a user interface design for usability When – any time! Especially useful before you start redesigning/testing with users Why – it’s cheap and easy, with a very high return on investment What you’ll get from it – a (page or process) design that’s had a lot of eyes looking at it intensely for flaws. Guaranteed improvement and therefore a good baseline from which to start testing with users Nielsen, “Heuristic evaluation”

10 heuristics Visibility of system status Match between system and the real world User control and freedom Consistency and standards Error prevention Recognition rather than recall Flexibility and efficiency of use Aesthetic and minimalist Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors • Help and documentation • • • Nielsen, “ 10 Usability Heuristics”

heuristics in action System Status ? Recognition? System-Real World Match? Help? System-Real World Match? Error Prevention? Minimalist?

redesign 1 Improved system status and no need for recall Use of patron-centered language Stepwise help and patron-centered language Robust help options

redesign 2 Further simplified language and options.

task-based usability testing What – involves watching people trying to use something for its intended purpose When – usually done at a point when you have a design/process/architecture that has been created using good design principles and as user-centered as you can make it Why – EVERYTHING should be useful, usable, desirable, valuable, findable, accessible, and credible What you’ll get from it – a very humbling experience – data that can be used to inform (re)design decisions Rubin & Chisnell, Handbook

task-based script “Submit a question to the Reference staff during non-business hours. ” Process: • write task that directs someone to find information or complete a task utilizing your website. • print the task or write it out on a slip of paper • recruit users to participate in the test • tell them that they are helping you test your site; this is not a test of their abilities or skills • present the task to them and ask them to complete it while you sit by their side • ask them to talk out loud (talk-aloud protocol) about the steps they use to complete the task as they are doing the task • do not provide assistance while they are completing the task regardless of how they might struggle ; stop the task if it goes on overly long (more than 3 -5 minutes) • thank your participants for helping you test your site

as the user sees it! “No online full text…” line is loud and clear. It just says to me that it is not available at OSU. ” “…tempted to just choose first option instead of going to sentence below. ” “Don’t use too many words. I don’t need to read so much. ” “…put them side by side. ”

Foster & Gibbons, Studying Students

x’s/o’s What – the user is asked to cross out or circle elements in a design When – very flexible, can be included as part of a usability test session or on its own – can be conducted at your library or another convenient location – great when you want quick feedback Why – it’s easier for users to respond to a discrete question, “what would you add/remove? ” than an open-ended question like “what would you change? ” What you’ll get from it – a pretty clear indication of what users say they will/won’t use and what they’d like to see in the design

Hussong-Christian, Nichols, Ward, “But I’m Not a Usability Expert” NWILL 2011 Tawatao et al. , “Lib. Guides”

x’s/o’s script “Now I'd like to know more about what specifically you use/don't use or like/dislike about the content on this page. ” Instructions: • circle any items on the page you like and use the most • cross out any items on the page you don't like or use • add any items not on the page you would like to have there for your own use Hussong-Christian, Nichols, Ward, “But I’m Not a Usability Expert

got data, now what?

decide on & implement changes • deciding – severity vs. priority • implementing – head slappers – cheap hits – test subjects may supply this ” Clark, “Issue Priority and Severity” Krug, Don’t Make Me Think

your turn

suggest 1 change “No online full text…” line is loud and clear. It just says to me that it is not available at OSU. ” “…tempted to just choose first option instead of going to sentence below. ” “Don’t use too many words. I don’t need to read so much. ” “…put them side by side. ”

document & communicate findings Quesenbery, “Reporting Usability Results”

Quesenbery, “Reporting Usability Results”

What is most important to convey? – Participants – What was tested? Why? Methods used? – Results, prioritized by severity – Recommendations Who is the audience of the report? – High level stakeholders? You? Theofanos and Quesenbery, Journal of Usability Studies

NIST, “Common Industry Format”

OSUL&P Usability Team, “OSUPress. Summary. doc”

Tawatao et al. , “Lib. Guides”

retest “The first few iterations can probably be expected to result in major gains in usability as the true "usability catastrophes" are found and fixed. ” Nielsen, “Iterative user-interface design”

free/low cost tools and methods – Usabilla – site rating – Google Analytics - web traffic – Concept Feedback – website feedback – Crazy. Egg – heatmap + more (free trial) – Chalk. Mark - first click testing (free trial) – BB Flashback Express – screen recording Tomlin, “ 24 Usability Testing Tools”

just… Some rights reserved by jakeandlindsay

references & resources Clark, P. (n. d. ). Issue priority and severity. Retrieved from http: //www. stickyminds. com/sitewide. asp? Function=FEATUREDCOLUMN&Object. Id=10119&Object. Type=ARTCOL&btntopic =artcol Foster, N. F. , & Gibbons, S. (2007). Studying students: The undergraduate research project at the University of Rochester. Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries. Retrieved from http: //www. ala. org/acrl/sites/ala. org. acrl/files/content/publications/booksanddigitalresources/digital/Foster. Gibbons_cmpd. pdf Gaffney, M. (2009). Reflecting usability engineering goals in interlibrary loan user interfaces. Journal of Interlibrary Loan, Document Delivery & Electronic Reserve, 19, 291 -298. doi: 10. 1080/10723030903278366 Hussong-Christian, U. , Nichols, J. , & Ward, J. (2011). “But I’m not a usability expert”: Testing tips for the resource sharing professional. Northwest Interlibrary Loan & Resource Sharing Conference. Portland, Oregon. Retrieved from http: //hdl. handle. net/1957/23608 Krug, S. http: //www. sensible. com/ Krug, S. (2000). Don't make me think!: A common sense approach to web usability. Indianapolis, Ind. : Que Corp. Lehman, T. , & Nikkel, T. (2008). Making Library Web Sites Usable: a LITA Guide. New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers. Retrieved from http: //www. neal-schuman. com/uploads/pdf/0139 -making-library-web-sites-usable--a-lita-guide. pdf Mifsud, J. (2011). The difference (and relationship) between usability and user experience. Retrieved from http: //usabilitygeek. com/the-difference-between-usability-and-user-experience/ Morville, P. http: //findability. org/ or http: //semanticstudios. com/ Morville, P. (2004). User experience design. Retrieved from http: //semanticstudios. com/publications/semantics/000029. php Nielsen, J. http: //www. useit. com/ Nielsen, J. (2005). 10 usability heuristics. Retrieved from http: //www. useit. com/papers/heuristic_list. html Nielsen, J. (2005). Heuristic evaluation. Retrieved from http: //www. useit. com/papers/heuristic Nielsen, J. (2004). Guerrilla HCI: Using discount usability engineering to penetrate the intimidation barrier. Retrieved from http: //www. useit. com/papers/guerrilla_hci. html Nielsen, J. (1993). Iterative user-interface design. Computer, 26(11), 32 -41. doi: 10. 1109/2. 241424 Nielsen, J. (n. d. ). Usability 101: Introduction to usability. Retrieved from http: //www. useit. com/alertbox/20030825. html

references & resources Nielsen Norman Group. (2011). User experience – our definition. Retrieved from http: //www. nngroup. com/about/userexperience. html NIST. (n. d. ). Common industry format – usability reporting elements. Retrieved from http: //zing. ncsl. nist. gov/iusr/formative/IUSR_Formative/index. html OSUL&P Usability Team. OSUPress. Summary. doc. Retrieved from https: //wiki. library. oregonstate. edu/confluence/pages/worddav/preview. action? file. Name=OSUPress. Summary. doc&page. Id =7013102 Quesenbery, W. (2005). Reporting usability results. Retrieved from http: //wqusability. com/handouts/reporting_usability. pdf Ribeirinho, A. (2007). The User Experience Honeycomb. Retrieved from http: //blog. delaranja. com/the-user-experiencehoneycomb/ Rubin, J. , & Chisnell, D. (2008). Handbook of usability testing: How to plan, design, and conduct effective tests. Indianapolis, IN: Wiley Pub. “start”. Flickr user jakeandlindsay. Retrieved from http: //www. flickr. com/photos/jakeandlindsay/5524669257/sizes/m/in/photostream/ Tawatao, C. , Hungerford, R. , Ray, L. , & Ward, J. (2010). Lib. Guides usability testing: Customizing a product to work for your users. Retrieved from https: //digital. lib. washington. edu/dspace/handle/1773/17101 Theofanos, M. , & Quesenbery, W. (2005). Towards the design of effective formative test reports. Journal of Usability Studies 1(1): 30. Retrieved from http: //www. usabilityprofessionals. org/upa_publications/jus/2005_november/formative. pdf Tomlin, W. Craig. 24 Usability Testing Tools. Useful Usability. December 2, 2009. Retrieved from http: //www. usefulusability. com/24 -usability-testing-tools/. University of Washington Libraries Usability http: //www. lib. washington. edu/usability/resources/howto Usability 4 lib email list http: //www. library. rochester. edu/usability 4 lib Usability. Net. (2006). Methods table. Retrieved from http: //www. usabilitynet. org/tools/methods. htm U. S. D. H. H. S. (n. d. ). Usability Basics. Retreived from http: //www. usability. gov/basics/index. html U. S. D. H. H. S. (n. d. ). Visual map. Retrieved from http: //www. usability. gov/methods/process. html “User experience. ” (2012). Retrieved from http: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/User_experience

uta. hussong-christian@oregonstate. edu jane. nichols@oregonstate. edu