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CHEAP’N’EASY USABILITY

CHEAP’N’EASY USABILITY. Paul Canning – Cambridge City Council. Introduction This presentation is about how YOU can do discount testing. How to do discount testing Why you should do it Tackling perceived barriers. Do you want to hear the good news first or the bad news?.

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CHEAP’N’EASY USABILITY

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  1. CHEAP’N’EASY USABILITY Paul Canning – Cambridge City Council

  2. IntroductionThis presentation is about how YOU can do discount testing • How to do discount testing • Why you should do it • Tackling perceived barriers

  3. Do you want to hear the good news first or the bad news?

  4. So you want to hear the good news? • You’re already doing it

  5. Take-away • Anyone can do it • Don’t need to sign up • Discount testing is not a black art

  6. How come?

  7. This ain’t new Jacob Nielsen article from 1994

  8. Saint Jacob 5 - 7= 80% Testers — Confidence 20 = 90%

  9. Jacob Nielsen’s Alertbox March 2000

  10. Jacob Nielsen’s Alertbox June 2006

  11. When would you need to hire an expert? When you know you can’t fix it yourself

  12. In a design review • At the beginning • Interpreting lots of info • Will produce ‘best fit’ web design styles Focus Group skills needed

  13. In a design review • When you need serious web design expertise Making this ‘simple’ took expertise

  14. In a design review: • For specialised usability needs • Accessibility • ‘Shaving the percentages’ • Analyzing ‘outliers’ • Quantitative analysis • Web log analysis

  15. Why do it? Woods and trees

  16. Why do it? • Save money • Avoid stress

  17. Why do it? • Becoming more user focussed • Answer management / directors / councillors

  18. How to do it What to test • Existing pages and sites • Prototypes • Design types

  19. CCC Car Parks paper prototype

  20. Quiet-ish Testers: Pick different types of people Location: Don’t obsess Remember: 5-7 = 80% Confidence You: People skills Affiliation with deodorant

  21. Two of you • Observe each other • Do it 5 times first up

  22. Welcome them Tell them what you’re doing Set simple tasks • Report something • Find a phone number Tell them to verbalise (and remind)

  23. Observe • Don’t show them • Answer with ‘Can you just show me?’ • Take LOTS of notes • Time how long they take

  24. Debrief • Ask them to talk about the website • Ask them for ideas • Give them a goodie bag

  25. Results • Obvious problems leap out • Common ideas and comments leap out

  26. Dangers Things not to do: generally, just shut up • Lead them on: • Smaller samples miss ‘outliers’, meaning: • Some of our customers • Good ideas The more you test the more useful information comes up

  27. What bad news? • Can be confronting • Usability testing about error • Upsets designers

  28. Users fail most of the time “The average outcome of Web usability studies is that test users fail when they try to perform a test task on the Web. Thus, when you try something new on the Web, the expected outcome is failure.”Jacob Nielsen’s Alertbox, November 24, 2003

  29. Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox, November 2003

  30. Usability news

  31. Usability Exchange stidy for SOCITM Usability exchange study for SOCITM

  32. Everyday Usability is poor • Packaging so badly designed it requires a knife to open • Still improving ATMs • The web has existed for a lot less time than packaging — so of course it's hard to use for a lot of people

  33. Must work for all these people

  34. Summary • Anybody can do discount user testing • Your visits will increase • More revenue will come via the web • More transactions sucessfully completed • Much happier customers • It’s all good!

  35. Resources • www.useit.com • www.usability.gov • www.egov.vic.gov.au

  36. Thank you for listening Paul Canning  Web Development Officer Cambridge City Council 01223 457415 paul.canning@cambridge.gov.uk

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