Workflow Analysis

1. Workflow Analysis • Describes how work is done when several people are involved • Coarsest level of granularity • Provides an overview

2. Workflow Analysis • Professor records grades, gives to secretary. • Secretary collates all grades from professors, sends to registrars office. • Registers office records receipt of grads, sends them to Information services. • Clerk transfers grades into database. • Operator prints grades for each student. • Postal machine operator stuffs envelops and stamps them. • Transportation person takes all letters to Post Office.

3. Job Analysis • Focuses on a what a single person does in the course of a day, week, or month • Looks at all tasks a single person does

4. Job Analysis Example, Receptionist: • Call Security to get parking permit for visitor. • Schedule a meeting with prospective client. • Refer incoming calls to customer service. • Call for copier service. • Check inventory of office supplies.

5. Task List • More detailed look at Job Analysis • Focuses on one component of job • One task and how it is broken down • important to be consistent of level of detail • Reasonable number of tasks

6. Task Sequences • Establish order in which tasks are performed Example: • Write letter • Address the envelope • Put letter in envelope • Place stamp on envelope

7. Task Sequences • Order can be different Example: • Address the envelope • Write letter • Place stamp on envelope • Put letter in envelope

8. Task Sequences • Sequences can be constrained because: • Physical Realities • Tradition

9. Task Hierarchies • Document the components of a task, called sub-tasks • Can show how sub-tasks are compriased of actions • Level of detail is dependent on type of site

10. Task Hierarchy

11. Procedural Analysis • Contains the most detail • Depicts individual steps of tasks • Shows flow of control • Considers constraint of user interface • Shows how users carry out tasks

12. Procedural Analysis

13. Environmental Analysis • Considers local of usr with using site • Typically home or office • Could be: • outdoors (information kiosk) • factory floor • Extreme weather • handheld device

14. Observing and listening to users • Discussed what you need to consider • How did you gather required information?

15. Observing and listening to users • Thinking aloud • Talk Right After • Role Playing • Cueing Recall • Other Techniques

16. Thinking aloud • Running commentary on users work as they perform it • Encourage users to explain what they are doing and why • Keep the user talking

17. Talk Right After • If user cannot talk talk while performing job: customer service • Ask user about job once they have time to talk • Perform remotely

18. Role Playing • Find out about infrequent tasks • Scenario-base approach • Pretend to be a user • Not as credible • Not as useful

19. Cueing Recall with videotape • Useful when do not want to interfere with user • Record user’s activities with camera • Review tape with user, ask about tasks

20. Other techniques • Focus groups • Mailed surveys

21. Recruiting Users • Where to find users? • Primary access from site’s customers, users, clients • Other sources….

22. Employment Agencies • Good source of end users • Can request certain types of users • Expect to pay • Might get biased users

23. Market Research Firms • Finds specific type of users • No expectation of job • Can be expensive • Less concern about biasing users

24. Other Possibilities • College campuses • Newspaper advertisement • Customer lists • User Groups

25. How Many Users? • Depends on what you need to learn • Size of site • Number of unique user types • Enough for breath of representation • Might be a moving target

26. Usability Specifications • Answers: How good is a web site? • Defines the means to measure the success of a site • Used during evaluation phase of development lift cycle • Helps define what to look for

27. Usability Specifications Two categories of specifications: • Qualitative • Quantitative

28. Quantitative Specifications • Performance measure • Quantifiable measure: expressed as numbers • Directly observable • Directly measurable Example: • Time to complete a task • Number of tasks completed • Number of errors committed

29. Qualitative Specifications • Preference measure • User’s opinion • Not directly observable Examples: • First Impression • Ease of use • long-term satisfaction

30. Qualitative Specifications • How to measure? • Likert scale: means to quantify preference Example:

31. Usability Specifications More usability specification examples: • Usability Software • Bohmann Usability Specifications

32. Usability Specifications Software for Usability

33. Memory • Role of memory in usability • Based on model of human memory:

34. Memory • Short-Term memory is small • Long-Term memory stores large amount but fallible

35. Memory • Chunking • Break large data into smaller more recallable chunks • SSN vs Drivers license number • URL Design