What is USABILITY and why should I care?

1. MARCH 11, 2014 • YaleSites DrupalCamp What is USABILITY and why should I care? Adriana Corona, Senior Experience Designer User Experience & Web Services @Yale ITS adriana.corona@yale.edu

2. The extent to which something iseasy to usefor an intended audience USABILITY Observing someone use what you’ve made with theaim of improving usability USABILITY TESTING Usability testing on a budget, with just as many benefits DISCOUNT USABILITY TESTING 2

3. Why should you care? • Better serve your users • Less frustration • More satisfaction • Cost effective, quick & easy 3

4. AGENDA 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 It always works! When to test Whom to test What to test How to test And now what? Demo 4

5. It always works! 1 • You’re too “close” to your design • No website is perfect • Biggest problems are usually the easiest to find 5

6. When to test 2 6

7. When to test 2 As early as possible (Before you think you should) 7

8. But… but.. It’s not ready!!! Even better! 8

9. TESTING on Day 0 ‘back-of-the-napkin usability test’ Hours spent: 0.25 9

10. TESTING on Day 30 Hours spent: 40 10

11. TESTING on Day 120 Hours spent: 160 11

12. But I’m here! 12

13. When to test 2 As early as possible (Before you think you should) or… Now! 13

14. Whom to test 3 Users unfamiliar with your site Don’t worry too much about “representative users” for initial tests 3 – 5 users per test 14

15. Why 3 – 5? • Biggest problems are usually the easiest to find • Will be found by most people • Will prevent them from finding other problems 15

16. Usability problems on your site* * adapted from Steve Krug’s “Don’t Make me Think” (2006, p. 139) 16

17. One Test 8 Users Total Problems found: 5 17

18. Two Tests 3 Users per test First test 3 Users Problems found: 3 18

19. Two Tests 3 Users per test Second test 3 Users Problems found: 5 19

20. Two Tests 3 Users per test Total Problems found: 8 20

21. Why 3 – 5? More evidence-based answer from the Nielsen Norman Group http://www.nngroup.com/articles/how-many-test-users/ 21

22. What to test 4 Impressions What do they think the site is about? What do they think they can do here? Goal-based Tasks Is the user successful in doing the task? Were there confusing steps? Do they understand the terminology? 22

23. How to test 5 • Choose goal-based tasks • Write scenarios • Find a location and 3 participants • Practice a script • Test! 23

24. 1. Choose Goal-based Tasks What should a user be able to do on this site? (Why are they here?) _______________ _______________ _______________ _______________ _______________ _______________ _______________ _______________ _______________ _______________ prioritize 24

25. 2. Write Scenarios Task: Find Yale bikeshare locations. Scenario: You are a Yale employee working at 55 Whitney Ave. You’ve decided to be healthier and more ‘green,’ and your coworker told you about Yale’s bike rentals and suggested you find one nearby. Find out if there are Yale bikes near your work. 25

26. 1 You are a Yale employee working at 55 Whitney Ave. You’ve decided to be healthier and more ‘green,’ and your coworker told you about Yale’s bike rentals and suggested you find one nearby. Find out if there are Yale bikes near your work. 2 1 Provides context 2 Goal-based task No leading or domain-specific terms. Don’t say “bikeshare” or “Zagster” 26

27. 3. Find a Location & Participants • Stake out where your users are • Print flyers • Ask your friends and neighbors • Offer incentives 27

28. 4. Practice a script Write your own, or use a template: e.g., http://sensible.com/ • We want to see if our site works well for users. It should take about __ minutes • We are testing the site, and not you! Don’t worry if you make any mistakes, we’re hear to learn from your experience • You won’t hurt our feelings, our aim is to improve the site. • Please try to think out loud as you do the tasks • Ask me if you have questions, but understand that I may not answer them immediately because we’re trying to see how people use the site on their own • We are recording the session. Only our team will see this recording (Consent form) 28

29. 5. Test! ! Don’t take notes • Have a bookmark of your site • Prepare screen capture software • Have scenarios in different cards • Read script, sign consent form if needed • Start screen recorder • Open your site • Start with impression test • “Tell me what you think this site is for? What things can you do here? Don’t click on things yet, just narrate your thoughts” • Run through the scenarios • Thank them. Give incentive • Stop screen recorder 29

30. And now what? 6 List the 3 most critical usability problems Try to fix them! Rinse & repeat 30

31. Further Reading 31

32. MARCH 11, 2014 • YaleSites DrupalCamp Thanks! Adriana Corona, Senior Experience Designer User Experience & Web Services @Yale ITS adriana.corona@yale.edu

33. CREDITS Slide 8: “Frustration” photo used under creative license from Sybren Stüvel (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sybrenstuvel/) Slide 10: “website” photo used under creative license from tourist_on_earth (http://www.flickr.com/photos/tourist_on_earth/) Slides 13-17: Krug, S. (2000). Don't make me think!: a common sense approach to Web usability. Pearson Education India. 33

34. FEEDBACK drupalcamp.yalesites.yale.edu/session-feedback 34

35. DEMO 7 35