Re: Cognition* - Usability, Information Architecture, and Good Design

Affordances: Instructions Not Included

Thanh Nguyen — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 22:18:00 +0000

Thanks to everyone who signed up for a lab and spoke with me during this year’s Online Marketing Summit. I hope the sessions were helpful and that you got some takeaways to implement and improve the usability of your website. However, the things we discussed in those 15 minutes are really the very tip of the iceberg when we talk about usability but I am happy to see you are all headed in the right direction.

One thing I noticed during quite a few of the labs was many websites had instructions telling the user what to do on the page. I am not going to quote specific examples, but instructions such as “Click on a link to the right to navigate” or a tool that has a small help icon saying “How does this work?” are telltale indications that something is seriously wrong with the site. A lot of times these instructions are added on after customer support receives call after call asking how to find something or how something works on the page.

If your site requires these instructions, it means your users are spending more time figuring out how to use the site than they are actually browsing, consuming information, and ultimately, buying from your site. Navigation and tools should be as intuitive as possible, and we can achieve this by taking advantage of affordances. Affordance basically refers to how an object’s appearance suggests how its method of action or function is. If something looks like a button, its affordance tells users that it can be clicked on and that there is a specific action that will occur with it.

Whenever I talk about affordance and intuitiveness, I am always reminded of a recent 60 Minutes story about why our society is becoming more dependent on not only technology, but also the Geek Squad / Tech Support services of the world. In the story, Tom Magliozzi from NPR’s “Car Talk” talks about why expensive cars have so many buttons and complicated features, and says, “If you’re buying a $50 or $60,000, or more, car, you don’t want pedestrian-looking buttons. You want something sophisticated…”

Basically, complicated interfaces and overwhelming features equals sophistication. This is probably the best explanation to poor usability and the worst mentality to have when designing a product or a website. This is also probably why there are so many “iPods for Dummies” or “TiVo for Dummies” books out there which are pretty much instruction manuals for products that already have instruction manuals!

When a product or website takes advantage of affordances, it helps reduce or eliminate the need for instructions. Amazon.com’s Ring Creator does a good job at taking advantages of the affordance of sliders and checkboxes to help facilitate action with their tool:

The checkboxes in this case clearly indicate a filtering function, while the sliders indicate the ability to set a range. You will notice that Amazon did include instructions on the page, which is okay as long as the instructions are serving as a backup and not as the sole primary cue. There are a few things that could be adjusted with this page, such as adding numbers 1, 2 and 3 at the top where the process-steps are indicated, so while this tool is a great example of affordance, it is still definitely not perfect in terms of general usability.

Always keep affordance in mind when designing a web site. Do links look like links? Do buttons look like buttons? Are checkboxes or radios more appropriate? Can someone use this site without instructions? While there are plenty examples of poor usability in the real world, determined users can usually compensate by learning and adapting to them. But just because someone will take hours to learn how to use all the buttons in their $60,000 car, it doesn’t mean that they will for your website. Users view the web as a tool, as a means to reach their end goal, and interactions are fast and short. So take advantage of affordances and get rid of all those instructions, unless you plan on releasing a “My Website for Dummies” book, too.

Top 3 Methods to Increase Engagement on your Web 2.0 Microsite

Thanh Nguyen — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 23:37:00 +0000

More and more companies are creating social networking or Web 2.0 microsites in hopes of gathering large scale distribution channel that is highly engaged or increase brand awareness. What sets your social network out from the rest and what will keep it alive? If you've done everything from allowing users to comment, rate, review, and email each other articles within your website, what other methods can you employ to get those users back to your website?

Well, here are the top 5 methods to get users to return to your website that will ultimately lead to increased engagement:

1) Create a question of the week. Whether your social network revolves around baseball players, musicians, writers, or activists, there is always something to talk about. Users love sharing their opinions and being heard. Sometimes, they just need a little inspiration to spark their creative juices. Posing a question to be answered will surely generate a lot of talk within your social network.

2) Have a rewards system. Many theories of engagement revolve around game theory. Why is it that video games are so engaging aside from the immersive experience? It's because users are constantly working toward something and they are handsomely rewarded along the way as well as at the end. Therefore, your social network should have a short term and long term reward system.

Examples of Short Term rewards systems:

Fill out this survey and get 10% off your next order
Buy this featured book and receive a 25$ off coupon
Fill out your profile and receive 25 points

Examples of Long Term rewards systems:

Create a list of rewards that can be obtained once a user has gathered a certain amount of points (ie. 100 points get a pen, 200 points get a T-Shirt, etc.)
Statuses / Class systems. If your social network has a discussion forum, let users who are active obtain levels of badges depending on how active they are (ie. trainee, patrolman, captain, seargent, etc.). This will give them bragging rights as well as credibility within your community.

3) Create a community leader. This leader is not an admin. This is an avid user who truly wants to help the community out. This user could be part of the admin team but they actively participate in the forums, the first to comment on user generated content, comments on user's profiles, and sends personal messages to users within your community. If a user hasn't revisited the community in a while, this community leader could send a message saying something to the effect of: "Hey! I read your comment about the movie, Toy Story. It isn't just a movie for kids, but definitely for adults as well. How many times have you seen the movie?"

These tactics should definitely help you boost the return visitors to your website. If you've employed any of these strategies, please comment about them. I would love to hear individual accounts of success (or not).

How To Prioritize and Plan a Successful Web Site Redesign (Part 1)

Thanh Nguyen — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 23:17:00 +0000

When stepping into the forefront of revamping a site for a client, I always receive the same question: I have a lot of things I need to fix on my site, but I do not know where to start. Can you help me?

Here is a starting checklist for your redesign efforts:

Business

What is your goal in doing this redesign?

Increased sales
Redefine brand
Disparate sites

Resource constraints

Budget
Time
Manpower

Policies
What has been working / doing well?
What hasn’t?
Are you measuring it?
What can you afford now, and what can (or must) you wait for in the next redesign?
Vendor selection

User

What has been working for them?
Complaints?
Features requested?
Navigation paths clear?
Find what they are looking for?
Shopping cart abandonment?
Type of user

Technology

What is currently being used
Migration?
Content Management System
Third Party Tools
Browser, Color, Page Size constraints

Content

What is currently there and works
What is currently there and doesn’t work
What needs to be there
Is it unique?
Is it useful to the user?

Prioritize by:

User
Business
Content
Technology

Why Users First?

User drives design
Business will not succeed if user doesn’t succeed
Content can be created once user dictates what they need
Technology is always last- it should meet the users’ needs, users or business shouldn’t have to suffer or cater to the technological confines. When the computing rate doubles every 18 months, there is bound to be a technology that will suit your need, otherwise, if it must be created, that could be a possibility for a new business venture.

User driven everything.

Thanh Nguyen — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 19:08:00 +0000

To continue my discussion about The Future of Usability, I will further elaborate upon my first point, that being the evolution of the user as the core focus of the future of online marketing.

"Let's Razzle Dazzle 'Em" Metaphor

Before we discuss the future, let’s talk about the past. In retrospect, technologies have been designed with the mindset of "Let’s show them what we can do." This conception pushed the objectives of business onto users, and oftentimes, users didn't care for the technology, product, or site. Thus, businesses went about creating the most graphically heavy site with the flashiest technology. This was somehow mistakenly equated to a better user experience.

However, this idea proved to be a big flop when Flash technology made its appearance and then failed miserably in increasing a user’s ability to find information online (as with all new technology, it's always abused by engineers and business owners). Of course, back then, users' expectations were low, so they masochistically struggled through the poorly implemented technology.

"Let Them Razzle Dazzle Us" Metaphor

Presently, we are progressing into an era where technology is designed to facilitate a user’s behavior. The paradigm has shifted from a "Let’s show them what we can do" perspective to a "Show us what you are doing, and we will cater to you," conception.

In the future, users will drive everything: user driven SEO, user driven EMAILs, user driven CMS, user driven ECOMMERCE, etc. (you get the picture). We are starting to see a trend in which users are the ones dictating what is important and what isn’t. In many ways, the online space has allowed everyone a voice to express their frustration (support forums) and authority (blogs) about specific subjects.

User Driven SEO?

A good example of the shift to user-centric online marketing appears in the SEO space. Search engines will strive to integrate all aspects of a user’s information foraging behavior into their algorithms (if they haven’t done so already). Users will be the ones dictating to the search engines what information is important or relevant, and conversely, what isn't.

We’ve seen this idea gain momentum with the creation of Wikia, a user edited search results wiki . I wouldn't be surprised if the search engines start to integrate links from tagging communities such as del.ic.ious or flickr into their algorithms, fueling user behavior into their results. Search engines may start scouring related tags within these communities and filtering those into their results (similar to what Technorati does on its site).

How To Prepare For The Future

Since the future is all about the user and their respective needs, your site needs to be as user friendly as possible. Other sites that give users a better customer experience will become your biggest competitors. Even if you have a well known brand offline, the online space has become a place where smaller businesses can still become a contender. Here are some useful suggestions to help you prepare yourself for the future:

Know your users. Let them drive your site.
Put some web analytics tools on your site to see what users are currently doing on your site (Hitbox has worked pretty well for us).
Make sure your content is:

Organized
Of quality
Searchable
Scalable
Has a community aspect to it (allow your users to talk about your content)

Get a benchmark usability evaluation. This will identify your site’s biggest usability problems.
Test, test, and test some more! I cannot stress this enough. The only way to get invaluable data from your users is to test your site design, architecture, or new functionality with your users. With this data, you can then respond to users' needs and provide a better overall user experience. Usability testing has never been so crucial, especially for the online space.

The Future of Usability

Thanh Nguyen — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 19:07:00 +0000

I recently spoke at the Online Marketing Summit (OMS) about the ROI of usability, as well as sharing some usability best practices. During the summit, I was supposed to be part of a panel, entitled "Ask the Experts." But, because I could not plow through the mass of bodies in front of me, I did not end up on stage. During the session, some good questions were posed about the future of the online space and its direction. One question in particular stood out from the rest: "What is your prediction for the future of online marketing as it pertains to your respective discipline?"

Interestingly, the way the panel answered this question provides tangible insights into the future of online marketing. Each member of the panel included an increased focus on "the user" in their assessment of what the future holds. Furthermore, the fact that all 5 panelists represented a specific sector of the online marketing space (PPC, CMS, SEO, Web Analytics, and Email Marketing) is indicative of the fact that this new user-centric approach to online marketing is not confined to any single discipline. Rather, the user is set to become the central component in the evolution of Web 2.0 and the future of online marketing.

From the human-computer interaction perspective (the parent discipline of usability), there is always a "people" problem and a "technology" problem when it comes to the user experience. Therefore, these predictions will either pertain to a people problem, a technology problem, or both. Here are my predictions for the evolution of the Internet.

User driven everything.
AJAX will be misused.
Technology scaffolds.
Contextual information becomes more important.
Trust, Authority, and Popularity become pillars of information organization.
Offline and Online user behaviors become enmeshed into one another.

I will create a post for each of these items shortly...

The Benefits of Usability and SEO

Thanh Nguyen — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 20:12:00 +0000

Why You Should Care About Both

As a web site owner, there are many investments that should be made in order to ensure your web site is both attractive to search engines and easy for users to navigate. Making the web site attractive to search engines involves a process commonly called Search Engine Optimization (SEO). In this process, there are numerous ways to enhance your site with respect to on-page factors (title, meta data, on-page linking structure), off-page factors (who is linking to you and where those links are coming from, directory submissions), and site wide factors (duplicate content, intra-linking of site). When SEO is implemented correctly, it should make your site rank higher on search engines, thus driving more traffic to your site. More traffic means more conversions, and more conversions means beating out your competitors for the same user market as well as the obvious, more ROI.

The First Benefit of Usability: More Potential for ROI

Now that you've got the users onto your site, you must convert them from faceless visitors to a lead, or better yet, a sale. But before your users convert, they must be able to find what they are looking for on your web site. This is a critical concept. Most businesses will invest primarily in the graphical design elements of a web site or new functionality, which isn't necessarily a bad investment (you still want users to have a pleasurable visual experience). However, the truth is that it doesn't matter how good your content is, nor how pretty your web site looks, or even how cool the new Flash functionality works. If users can't find it, it doesn't exist. If they can't find it, they cannot convert.

When $25 billion in potential profit is lost every year due to web site usability issues (Zona Research, 2001), it seems practical to recommend that usability be a central component in every process of building or redesigning a web site.

What Exactly is Usability?

Usability is focused upon three simple concepts (among many others):

1. Discoverable - Can users find what they are looking for?

If so, how fast?

How efficiently? And can they do it again, but quicker the second time around?

2. Satisfaction- Are they satisfied?

Does your web site follow conventions that users have grown to expect?

Did they accomplish the goal they set out to satisfy?

3. Usefulness - How useful is the site?

Does it serve its purpose?

Will users want to revisit to obtain their objectives?

If your site is built with a customer centric focus versus a business centric focus, you will satisfy all of the above mentioned principles.

The Second Benefit of Usability: Reduced Training and Support Costs, Increased Productivity

If employed correctly, the usability process can reduce telephone and email support as well as user training. One case that comes to mind is that of a login feature which resides on an arbitrary page on your web site. The user then has to dig through many links, often with no success in finding what they’re searching for. Frustrated, they call up a sales representative. After waiting 10 minutes on the phone while listening to drab elevator music, the user’s frustration only increases. After jumping through what seems like a million hoops, the user is finally greeted by the account rep, who then has to guide the user through the sinuous forest of links until finally reaching the destination where the user can log in successfully. Sure, this exchange can be completed within 1 or 2 minutes of the rep's time, but that time can be better utilized closing deals than supporting customers. In addition, these few minutes do not include the time it took to train the rep on the operating functions of the company's site. If a web site (or any other product) is easy to use, it will require less training.

Another scenario that comes to mind is all too typical within any organization. Imagine that your company’s site has an intranet (which it probably does) that employees utilize to help them understand the policies and procedures associated with their work. Imagine how much productivity would be wasted if employees are busy trying to hunt down information due to a poorly planned information architecture. If the site was laid out with usability principles in mind, the employee would be able to find the information needed immediately and be able to do their work instead of wasting their time searching for information in order to perform their work tasks, or worse, disrupting a co-worker’s or manager’s valuable time to ask for that information.

The Third Benefit of Usability: Stronger Brand

Another reason to invest in usability is the increased positive brand image. Your brand extends the marketing materials disseminated to your end users; it is also the experience the user has with the people, products, and services of your company. Your web site is a facet of this engaged user experience. If the user has a negative experience with your web site, 58% will not return to the web site (Forrester Research). Moreover, any marketing materials (email campaigns, newsletters, brochures) later disseminated to the user will also be associated with the negative experience and will ultimately be rejected as spam. Not to mention the negative ‘word of mouth’ viral marketing that will be generated from just one negative experience.

Usability and SEO Go Hand In Hand

Now that both the positive and negative implications of Usability and SEO have been explored, you may be wondering: How and when should these two potential investments be implemented? As with all plans, timing and execution are essential components of any good campaign. Luckily, usability and SEO should be implemented in tandem with one another.

For example, let's say you invest only in SEO. If you get more traffic to your site but your site is still a mess, it doesn't matter how many visitors come to your site because your conversion rate will still be low. Now, let's say you invest only in usability. Well, now you have a functional site, but not enough traffic is being driven to your site in order to convert users. Thus, the best way to improve your site is to invest in both these elements simultaneously. When done correctly, improving your site will ultimately improve your bottom line.

Take Aways

1. Usability benefits not only the users but the business- increased ROI, reduced training costs, stronger brand among many others.

2. To obtain the maximum results for your investment, an SEO and SEM strategy should be integrated with your Usability strategy.

The Machine that Fried Its Patients

Thanh Nguyen — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 20:07:00 +0000

In March of 1986, something phenomenal occurred at the East Texas Cancer Center. At the time, the significance of this event went unrealized, but as time passed, the implications became clear. Looking back, this event forever changed the way systems are designed and programmed.

* * *

The day began just like any other as a cancer patient was receiving his normal radiotherapy treatment from the Therac-25 machine. The machine had two distinct modes, “e” for electron and “x” for X-ray. Despite the obvious problems which could arise from having both an electron beam and a high powered X-ray beam programmed into the same machine, the operator assumed she could use the machine without encountering any problems. She began to input the prescription data, and due to her previous experience, she was able to input this information very quickly.

After double checking her inputs, the operator (a trained radiology technician) noticed that the mode was in X-ray instead of electron. Realizing the problem that this created, she hit the “cursor up” command in an attempt to correct the mistake. Then, after pressing the “return” key several times, the treatment was administered to the patient. Yet the technician was completely unaware that her actions had triggered a bug in the software.

During the course of the treatment, an error classified as “Malfunction 54” occurred, informing the technician that an underdose had been administered.

Following standard operating procedures, the technician hit “P” to proceed with the treatment. However, upon doing so, a second dose of treatment was administered to the patient, who immediately realized that something was wrong and began screaming. The operator, who was isolated in another room separate from the patient, heard nothing. There were audio and video monitors in the room which allowed the patient to interact with the operator, but that day, none of the equipment was working.

Five months later, the patient was dead. His death was directly attributed to the radioactive overdoses he received during his "treatment."

* * *

So, this story is both sad and interesting, but what does it have to do with usability?

Usability deals with the ease of use (intuitiveness) of designs. More specifically, good design encompasses numerous factors, many of which were overlooked or ignored by the programmers of the Therac-25 system. Below is a list of what constitutes "good" design.

Superior designs allow for the exploitation of human behavior. As cognitive beings, humans are natural pattern matchers and button pushers. If prior research or usability testing had been performed on this machine, test results would’ve revealed the rate at which an experienced user could input parameters. Yet after the recall of the Therac-25 machine, its makers discovered that the notorious “Malfunction 54” error would occur when keys were pressed successively under an 8 second time frame. An experienced user, I would imagine, would have the skill necessary to input such parameters at a rate that would fall below this time frame.
Efficient designs ensure the clarity of the system through immediate visual clues. In the case at hand, there was no connection between the patient’s room and the operator’s room. Although audio and monitoring equipment existed, there was no backup system allowing for redundancy.
Operative design provides informative descriptions of errors which occur in the system, allowing the user to gain not only an understanding of the malfunction, but a possible solution to correct it. "Malfunction 54" is neither descriptive nor correct. Rather, the system should have specified that an underdose had been given, allowing the technician to identify the problem and improvise a solution. Had this occurred, the patient’s life could have been saved.
Effective design creates a clear differentiation between two completely distinct modes of operation. An "e" and "x" design doesn’t provide any substantial visual feedback to the operator, as the letters are not physically displaceable. A better alternative would have been to create two different looking beam heads for the machine, allowing the operator to discern when they were using the wrong beam on a patient.

Take Aways

Mission critical system errors like those of the Therac-25 system illustrate the consequences of both bad design and the lack of user testing. In this case, the cost of poor usability was quite unfortunate; it literally became a matter of life and death. In fact, two other patients died from the same machine. Thus, in the end, we are left with some pressing questions: What is the cost of poor usability? How much is it really worth to you and your business?