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How do we use the Web?

How do we use the Web?. COAP 2170 – Week 2a. Dejan Dimitrovski Fall 2, 2012 Webster University, Vienna. Usability concepts. Inverted Pyramid Banner-Blindness 7±2 Principle Pareto principle The law of proximity The law of similarity Screen Fold Wireframe.

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How do we use the Web?

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  1. How do we use the Web? COAP 2170 – Week 2a Dejan Dimitrovski Fall 2, 2012 Webster University, Vienna

  2. Usability concepts • Inverted Pyramid • Banner-Blindness • 7±2 Principle • Pareto principle • The law of proximity • The law of similarity • Screen Fold • Wireframe Present briefly (max. 5 minutes) What it is Why is it important for usability

  3. “ Thank you for the looped audio music on your website. It made the time I spent trying to find your phone number and address more bearable and eased my pain when the link to your menu was broken. - Nobody ” http://neversaidaboutrestaurantwebsites.tumblr.com/

  4. Why are things always in the last place you look for them? • Because you always stop looking for them when you find them

  5. Facts of life • We don’t read pages. We scan them • We don’t make optimal choices. We Satisfice • We don’t figure out how things work. We muddle through

  6. 1. Scanning websites • We’re usually in a hurry • I want to know now! (so I can go back to <insert favorite internet distraction>) • We know that we don’t need to read everything • “I’m smart, I’ll figure it out” • We’re good at scanning • It is hardwired in us evolutionary

  7. Scanning Websites – “The Science” • Eye-tracking study • F-shaped heat map http://www.useit.com/alertbox/reading_pattern.html

  8. 2. Satisficing • Satisfying / sufficing • I’ll give it a try, if it doesn’t work I’ll use the “magic” button in the browser • Do you ever find yourself opening x tabs in your browser, and you just click through them hoping to find the stuff that you need or that interests you?

  9. 3. Muddling through • Somewhat related to the previous point • People don’t like reading manuals • “Some things are just too complicated and only geeks understand them” • I can not break it, I’ll just try stuff

  10. Wow, is all this true? • A lot of research confirms these 3 “facts of life” • We evolved into “informavores” • http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20030630.html • “Humans are under less evolutionary pressure to improve their Web use, but basic laziness is a human characteristic that might be survival-related (don't exert yourself unless you have to). […], people like to get maximum benefit for minimum effort. That's what makes information foraging a useful tool for analyzing online media.”

  11. More supportive evidence • Websites face four-second cut-off • “75% of the 1,058 people asked would not return to websites that took longer than four seconds to load.” • http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6131668.stm • Web users judge sites in the blink of an eye • “Potential readers can make snap decisions in just 50 milliseconds. A study […] has shown that the snap decisions users make about the quality of a web page have a lasting impact on their opinions.” • http://www.bioedonline.org/news/news.cfm?art=2268

  12. Web Users are horrible, what do we do? • If you offer something that others do not, people will still come to you TASK: • Visit and evaluate - www.useit.com • Knowing what the expectations of the web site visitors are, we can prepare our website to meet the expectations

  13. Target Audience • The typical web user will not be interested in our web site, but there are many people out there who might be interested in the information on your site • Identifying the target audience, will make it easier to include content that will be relevant to the needs of your web site visitors http://www.merttol.com/articles/web/identify-the-target-audience.html

  14. Billboard design 101

  15. IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHOSE SIGNS THESE ARE YOU CAN’T HAVE DRIVEN VERY FAR BURMA SHAVE http://www.barefootsworld.net/burmashave.html

  16. How to design for informavores • Create clear visual hierarchies • Use conventions • Break down pages in clearly defined areas • Make it obvious what can be clicked • Minimize noise

  17. Create clear visual hierarchies • The more important something is, the bigger it should be • Things that are related logicallyshould be related visually • “Nest” information visually, to quickly illustrate relationships

  18. Conventions are your friends • Don’t reinvent the wheel • Resist the urge to reinvent the wheel • When you do, test the new wheel!

  19. Break up pages into clearly defined areas

  20. Make it obvious what is clickable • Hyperlinks are the lifeblood of the web • They determine where the user will go to from the current page • Give clear signs where they can go to • In addition to making it obvious what is a link • Make sure that they are big enough • Avoid using “click here” jargon • Don’t use too many links http://uxdesign.smashingmagazine.com/2012/06/20/links-should-never-say-click-here/

  21. Keep the noise down • The more there is on the page, the harder it is to identify what I can do on this page • Think of Google vs. Yahoo

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