Demystifying Usability

Privacy: your biggest user experience challenge

2009-07-09T10:51:51-07:00

"We are all in the privacy business". This was my general conclusion when working on next generation usability for the popular directory look-up portal whitepages.com website (used by 200 million adults in the US). It doesn't matter what your website does online, if it involves giving consumers information, you are in the privacy business first and foremost. What does this mean? Privacy is one of the biggest concerns users bring to the Web experience. It...

How relying on 'user education' is a failed strategy

2009-04-06T12:54:27-07:00

Maybe you have heard the saying "we'll take care of that in user training". The notion that problems users have can be resolved by user training is severely flawed. Yet entire departments rally around this belief and worse many companies seem to wrap product management around it. The idea that you can educate users about how to use a user interface is misguided. The goal of usability is to create intuitive user interfaces. Intuitive means...

Competitor designs: The danger of borrowing across contexts

2009-02-19T18:43:51-08:00

The Internet is great for taking a rapid look at what your competitors might be doing as you design a user interface. While this is a valuable learning opportunity, it can also be dangerous and inappropriate for your design. The biggest problem I have found, is that user interface approaches or design elements do not carry neatly across contexts. Each design context is unique. By design context I mean a few things: Brand experience: Each...

President Obama: Vision for Usability?

2009-01-27T15:24:09-08:00

Usability awareness back in the White House? Obama is already being described as the Internet President. Will his Internet savvy include an agenda for usability? If so, what might that agenda include? In this post I explore these questions, connect some dots and present some potential solutions for how Obama's technology goals are linked deeply to harnessing usability best practices. Tech innovators get excited Late in the election season, Silicon Valley expressed its joy that...

Intro to Emotion Design- Pleasurability and Emotional Design

2009-01-04T21:46:08-08:00

Here is a recording from a live usability seminar I gave a few weeks ago on the topic of emotion design and pleasurability. (Sign up at the bottom of that page to our usability research newsletter to be alerted to upcoming free usability seminars like this)... In the age of the iPhone, emotion in design is heating up as a competitive differentiator. Products that deliver a compelling and elegant user experience are characterized by their...

Usability 2.0?

2008-12-16T18:45:26-08:00

I gave a two day workshop on User Experience best practices in Web 2.0 at Gallup (yes, the polling organization) in Omaha last week. Here's a slide from the seminar I thought you might find interesting capturing Usability 2.0 (whatever that is). It is a take on the infamous O'Reilly diagram capturing Web 2.0 concepts. My favorite is"iphone like magic" because I have had clients asking for web applications with that description. BTW, my definition...

8 Things you need to know about improving online experience- new study

2008-08-28T11:35:44-07:00

A new study (July 2008) entitled 'Factors that Improve online experience' by Sathish Menon and Michael Douma from the Institute for Dynamic Educational Advancement offers key insights on the current state of online user experience. The study reinforces known usability truths, sheds light on user perceptions but more interestingly points to disconnects between designers and users. The study surveyed perceptions, expectations and practices across various audiences and contrasted the results. The key findings and what...

What color do you like? The usability of look and feel (strategy with icons, images, branding elements)

2008-06-18T05:39:37-07:00

The graphical or visual aspects of an interface are the most easily recognizable. They require no methodology (Graphic design vs usability) or design distinctions, (What is design?). Everyone from CEO to programmer can understand an interface by it's visual treatment. For some the interface is "eye-candy" and for others representative of organized emotional response and visual perception. Oftentimes, the confusion over who dictates the design can lead to confusion and often a gratuitous use of...

Design Like You Give a Damn!- Sustainable Design

2008-05-26T23:29:54-07:00

Design Like You Give a Damn is the name of a really great book on architectural responses to humanitarian crises. The book details design projects around the world from the ecologically dry toilet to the hippo water roller. Sustainable design is also the theme of an aerial dance and acrobatics show my daughter plays a part in that's premiering in Portland this month, called ¡Entusiasmo!, a true story of Gaviotas, Columbia. The show is written...

"Forcing functions"- interaction design technique, used but not widely understood

2008-04-28T22:05:03-07:00

What is a forcing function? A forcing function is a constraint where the user "is forced" to complete a task based on a limited, paired down set of features or controls. Forcing functions help streamline, simplify or minimize how a user interacts with a design. Designers benefit from this interaction design technique by reducing navigation redundancy, task effort and the complexity caused by "feature frenzy" (see my previous article on feature creep). Not all forcing...

Warning: Third-party Usability is Bad for your Health

2008-03-21T15:12:04-07:00

There is a huge problem in the software and web services industry: 3rd party applications, widgets, dashboards or site add-ons can kill your usability efforts. Poor user experiences with 3rd-party applications can undermine or make your usability efforts look bad. Vendors such as PeopleSoft, Vignette and many others are notorious for providing "clunk-ware", "vapor-ware" or "sneaker-ware" as one of our clients at Experience Dynamics put it. Let's explore why this is a major problem that...

AJAX Usability Checklist (Free holiday bonus for our readers)

2007-12-24T19:10:47-08:00

This Ajax Usability Checklist is a bonus guide that accompanies my AJAX Usability Seminar, I am offering it in the form of this post as a bonus for readers- thanks for your support! The Web is changing fast. New standards are emerging, new approaches to coding such as Scriptaculous, AJAX, Ruby, Flash/Flex, Silverlight and others are creating a leap-frog situation where many new websites, web apps and portals are implementing next year's User Interface elements....

What is Design? (Yes, all 10 definitions!)

2007-10-30T21:08:25-07:00

When the term design is used it can mean many things, depending on who you are and which conversation you are having. Rarely do people stop to compare 'mental maps' and clarify which type of design they are talking about! I believe this has to do with the multiple definitions of design and the lack of awareness of each specific type of design, its function and timing in a process. The other factor being how...

Multi-modal design: Gesture, Touch and Mobile devices...next big thing?

2007-06-05T15:44:17-07:00

It's great to see excitement building for the Apple iPhone (launch expected late June '07). Korea's LG Prada, an iPhone competitor product, launched a few months ago in the UK. Just this week a new touch screen device- Taiwan's HTC Touch was announced for release immediately in the UK and later this year in the US. The hot attraction of course with the iPhone, the Prada and the Touch is that they offer touch and...

Is Google's business model Progressive Disclosure??

2007-02-19T18:52:00-08:00

Quick Google user, you need to look up a measurement; phone numer; UPS tracking code; address; mathematical formula ..."Didn't you know Google had a tool for that?" Yes, Google has a tool for everything these days it seems, but it's not a consistent tool kit. Sometimes you get it and oftentimes you don't. Is that why Google doesn't promote what I call their "world of widgets" (WoW's)? How is it some people know the secret...

"Feature frenzy"- 10 tips to getting feature creep under control

2007-02-02T14:50:25-08:00

Why the (feature) frenzy? Historically, marketing says "software sells with more features" (or perceived features). There is a psychology (especially true in the United States) that the more you get when you buy something, the better the purchase decision. Unfortunately, added 'bells and whistles' might feel like a better deal, but can turn into a nightmare when you (or your user) sit down with the software and use it. A few words about features Features....

Is Usability a Public Relations problem?

2007-01-02T16:51:00-08:00

It will be if you don't do something about it. At Experience Dynamics, (a Portland, Oregon usability consultancy) we recently helped one of our Fortune 10 clients with some usability testing on a product that was actively being improved for usability. The client pointed us to a blog entitled "Worst Experience Ever" where the blogger recited his experience with the actual process the program manager was interested in usability testing. This blogger's posting had drawn...

Personas LIVE! Transcript- Interview with Frank Spillers, Tamara Adlin and John Pruitt

2006-12-05T16:49:00-08:00

The following is a transcript of a live interview with Persona book authors John Pruitt and Tamara Adlin, conducted by Frank Spillers in October 2006. This seminar is available with the slides and audio presentation here (requires brief registration, privacy protected). Transcript of Personas LIVE!: This interview follows the publication of Adlin and Pruitt's personas book, "The Persona Lifecycle : Keeping People in Mind Throughout Product Design"- published earlier this year... Frank Spillers Welcome... For...

Usability Testing methods- What are we observing and why? (World Usability Day 2006 Event)

2006-11-09T10:32:41-08:00

Next week is World Usability Day, a day when the usability community gets out to raise awareness and visibility about the field and goals of usability engineering and user centered design. "World Usability Day 2006 promotes the value of usability engineering and user-centered design and the belief that every user has the responsibility to ask for things that work better". (from the WUD site) Here are a couple of items related to World Usability Day...

What is Emotion Design? (A practical definition)

2006-09-26T10:14:02-07:00

Two years ago, after returning from the Design and Emotion conference, I shared an extensive post on Emotion Design, a topic that has a lot of potential to open up new conversations about user experience and usability. This week, the fifth conference, Design and Emotion 2006 takes place in Göteborg, Sweden. Since I wanted to attend the conference this year but couldn't, here is a practical definition of design and emotion that I hope you...

The Importance of User Experience- the Poster!

2006-09-21T13:37:00-07:00

The Importance of User Experience Here's a poster that reflects some thoughts about user experience...all of the bottom row items (outcomes of positive user experiences) in the poster are based on empirical research. Let's review some of that research, a brief glimpse at the science behind what the poster is communicating... About the poster project and translations into many languages below all these quotes (bottom of the post)... Elements that contribute to a positive user...

Designing for the "Average User"

2006-04-21T12:16:00-07:00

User advocacy is one of the central goals of usability. User advocacy can be defined as the process an IT professional (with an interest in user experience) goes through in re-sensitizing herself to the world of the "average user". Usability expert reviews are largely an exercise in user advocacy, in addition to an analysis of known usability issues and problems based on knowledge of User Interface Style Guide abnormalities. So. why do we forget about...

Web 2.0: A glimpse into the future?

2005-10-03T16:23:13-07:00

What is Web 2.0? (as of Dec. 2005) A new approach to web and web application development that is characterized by: Web sites offering free (cool) web services and tools (examples below); Open source code (open API's)- software code becomes a viral marketing tool; An enhanced user experience afforded by new approaches to information sharing and use of existing/new web scripting technologies; Giving users the ability to share their opinions, media or to offer back...

Configuration Hell- The Case for the Plug and Play User Experience

2005-09-25T21:22:00-07:00

You know the drill: You download or install a new piece of software or open a new piece of technology (e.g. PDA, mobile phone, laptop) and you have to "configure it" to get something to work or work the way you want it to... Summary: Users are not usually successful at configuring software, websites or devices and the configuration experience can be a major source of frustration. Instead we need to move toward a world...

The Politics of Pop-Ups, Pop-Up Blockers and the Pop-Up Error Message

2005-07-30T13:07:03-07:00

Pop ups are dead- so what? First of all, let me just get this out in the open: there is nothing wrong with pop-ups per say. Next, let me qualify what I just said: Pop-ups are ineffective as an advertising tool and are not recommended on the web since pop-up blockers are ubiquitous. E.g. Every browser and search engine tool these days has a pop-up blocker: AOL pop-up blocker, Google Toolbar pop-up blocker, Yahoo Toolbar...

How to avoid being blinded by your own design: Seeing the Forest for the Trees

2005-06-01T23:54:30-07:00

Whom this applies to: Designers, Marketers, Developers, CEO's If you design something for your company, organization or department, or help influence the direction of a design, it regularly can become very difficult for you to separate yourself from the design. And chances are, you are not even aware of it most of the time! This entry looks at why this seems to happen and what you can do about it (if anything at all). Identifying...

How many users should you test with in usability testing? (Latest Research)

2005-01-21T17:29:25-08:00

Question: How many users do you need to test with for a usability test? Answer 1: = 5 users (Jakob Nielsen and Thomas Landauer, 1993). Answer 2: = 15 users (Laurie Faulkner, 2004), PDF file. So, which is it, 5 or 15? And why are we arguing about an extra 10 users, doesn't one need to test with at least 100 or more users for statistical significance, accuracy and validity? Statistical Validity in Usability Testing...

Eye-Tracking studies- Usability holy grail?

2004-12-10T17:15:47-08:00

Eye-Tracking- following user eye patterns Eye-tracking studies are a type of usability test where user gaze concentrations are recorded in thermal-like "heat zone maps". The heat zone maps track user eye movements. Eye tracking tests make usability testing look really interesting, sophisticated, high-tech and scientific. Eye tracking usability data appears to be more valuable or empirical since it is recorded using technology and gaze capture instruments. The reality is that eye-tracking, while valuable, doesn't make...

Electoral Ethnography

2004-10-27T22:59:51-07:00

The British newspaper, The Guardian, is offering an interesting way for British readers to gain an insight into the electoral experience currently sweeping the United States. In a unique photography diary project Guardian Unlimited and Documentography have teamed up to capture the lives of American families in the run-up to the US election. Five photographers from the Documentography collective are living for a week with five very different families in California, Florida, Georgia, Ohio and...

Design and Emotion

2004-08-04T21:01:03-07:00

This is a late post relating to my paper presentation at Design and Emotion 2004 (conference in Ankara, Turkey). The entry contains some new writing cut from the paper due to size constraints. Related paper: "Emotion as a Cognitive Artifact and the Implications for Products that are Perceived as Pleasurable" by Frank Spillers in the Publish Works section on the Experience Dynamics website. So, what does emotion have to do with design? Emotion is one...

Telematics Usability-Coming to a Car Near You

2004-06-09T14:50:23-07:00

I recently returned from Detroit 2004 where I moderated several keynote expert panels on consumer needs, usability and the future of vehicle telematics. The conference is an annual event held in Detroit and attracts automotive companies, suppliers and analysts who are all focused on the bleeding edge of the "wired car" a la integrated communications, vehicle diagnostics, entertainment, real-time information and high-speed internet or satellite driven data "piped" to the vehicle. What is telematics and...

Graphic Design vs. Usability

2004-04-27T18:53:05-07:00

The GUI Olympics (Graphical User Interface, pronounced "goo-ey") is an annual event where top graphic designers converge to design the latest and greatest "skins" for the Winamp media player, Windows themes and Icons. The event is in its final week, and while it's wrapping up it might be useful to reflect on a couple of note-worthy items that relate to popular misconceptions of usability and graphic design... The Logic of a "Skin" The GUI Olympics...

How Usable is Jakob Nielsen?

2004-04-07T09:23:57-07:00

In an earlier posting, I said: "Jakob Nielsen has an unhealthy monopoly on Usability Consciousness. He promotes best practices, he preaches obedience to his guidelines and when he postulates opinions they are interpreted as instructions". So what's the big deal? Jakob is an internationally recognized usability "celebrity". His books sell many copies and his website gets lots and lots of traffic. Who is Jakob Nielsen? Jakob Nielsen has become a hot item over the last...

Progressive Disclosure- the best interaction design technique?

2004-03-25T10:24:45-08:00

What is "progressive disclosure"? Progressive disclosure is an interaction design technique that sequences information and actions across several screens in order to reduce feelings of overwhelm for the user. By disclosing information progressively, you reveal only the essentials and help the user manage the complexity of feature-rich sites or applications. Progressive disclosure follows the typical notion of moving from "abstract to specific"; only it may mean sequencing interactions and not necessarily level of detail (information)....

Methodology or Mythology?

2004-02-26T14:09:06-08:00

Methodology Madness: or "caveat emptor" (buyer beware) What you buy or "buy into" influences how you think about something and how you represent that information in your mind is what cognitive scientists refer to as an "internal representation". Whether you buy usability services or not, at some point along the way I am sure you will or have encountered "methodology madness", and maybe you don't even know it. What is "methodology madness"? Methodology madness in...

Are you hiring what you think you are hiring?

2004-02-23T17:04:26-08:00

Part 1:Clarifying skill sets This User Interface (UI) Designer position correctly states that UI designers create navigation maps, functional specifications and design requirement documents. Hint: They don’t code anything. Yet a recent polling of my colleagues and clients shows that the common usage of “User Interface” person means someone who does "front end" (interface design) and the "back end" (programming). There are many UI Designers out there who design the usability and they have a...

The Future is Usable: New Communication devices

2004-02-03T17:56:39-08:00

Consumers can feel poor usability with great intensity on a cell phone or with a new data enabled device-- unlike a website, software application or operating system that involves more relaxed cognitive states (sitting down and learning the system). When you need to make a call, send a text message or web browse on a handset it becomes obvious what ease of use is and isn't. A large part of the design problem in mobile...

Ad conversion rate influenced by time (not click rate)

2004-01-28T22:12:25-08:00

Time is an important design variable to understand. Your user experience is effected by it no matter what user experience you are serving up and the rules are different for every context. For example, the "three click rule" (users must get to their destination within three clicks) applies to e-commerce primarily but not to mortgage education, financial services usability or reading the New York Times online. Time Usability 101: Design for asynchronous interaction. Asynchronous means...

Patenting usability improvements- going over the top?

2004-01-25T23:11:01-08:00

Summary: Questioning Jakob Nielsen’s recent advice about competitor data and his advice to patent usability best practices. Slashdotters react to Jakob Nielsen’s recent column. And they raise some good points: • "The reason this logic doesn't follow for many software engineers and software patents, is that the stuff that gets patented is sometimes simple, and a horrible waste of cycles and time happens globally as people work around the patents". • "Usability is required on...

Email Marketing- New Legislation

2004-01-22T23:30:00-08:00

In case you missed the big news in the last few weeks, there is a new anti-spam law that was enacted on January 1st 2004. The rules for sending email have changed. Marketing Sherpa has a good summary: Update Memo: CAN-SPAM Good News & Bad, Bad, Bad, Bad News SUMMARY: We just spent two and a half hours quizzing the FTC's attorney on exactly how the new law affects emailers. Here's a quick, handy round-up...

Site Search can be flattened by Usability

2004-01-18T16:32:50-08:00

If you're using a search solution on your website (Ask Jeeves, EasyAsk, Google, Inktomi, Mercado, Verity etc) or simply offer a search interface that users can find products, information or documents with-- you may be missing the main feature that will make it work (and give you the return on investment you want): Search Interface and Search Results Usability. The search interface runs into these typical problems that most people don't consider when shopping for...