Usability OSU Libraries

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Usability _at_ OSU Libraries

• presented by the u-team

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Usability definition

• What Usability relates to the users experiences
  of a product or website. Usability is about
  building products based on user feedback and
  input and with the users' needs and goals in
  mind.
• Why To reduce confusion and make it easier for
  users to accomplish their goals on our site. The
  payoff is in lower support costs and a better
  user experience.
• Bad intranet/B2B Web design cost the economy
  50-100 billion per year in lost employee
  productivity
• something about student service
• Usability is defined by five quality attributes
• Learnability
• Efficiency
• Memorability
• Errors
• Satisfaction

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Learnability

• How easy is it for users to accomplish basic
  tasks the first time they encounter the design?

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Efficiency

• Once users have learned the design, how quickly
  can they perform tasks?

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Memorability

• When users return to the design after a period of
  not using it, how easily can they reestablish
  proficiency?

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Errors

• How many errors do users make, how severe are
  these errors, and how easily can they recover
  from the errors?

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Satisfaction

• How pleasant is it to use the design?

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User-Centered Design hide me

• In broad terms, user-centered design (UCD) is a
  design philosophy and a process in which the
  needs, wants, and limitations of the end user of
  an interface or document are given extensive
  attention at each stage of the design process.
• User-centered design tries to optimize the user
  interface around how people can, want, or need to
  work, rather than forcing the users to change how
  they work to accommodate the system or function.
• Four essential activities in a user-centered
  design project
• Requirements gathering - Understanding and
  specifying the context of use
• Requirements specification - Specifying the user
  and organizational requirements
• Design - Producing designs and prototypes
• Evaluation - Carrying out user-based assessment
  of the site

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Usability Methods

• The word "usability" also refers to methods for
  improving ease-of-use during the design process.
  
• Usability can be measured objectively via
  performance errors and productivity, and
  subjectively via user preferences and interface
  characteristics.
• Examples of usability methods
• Ethnographic Studies
• Scenarios and Personas
• Task Analysis
• Heuristic Evaluation
• Card Sorting
• Think-Aloud User testing

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Think-Aloud User Testing

• A method used to gather data in usability testing
  ( not focus groups!)
• Participants are asked to think aloud as they are
  performing a set of specified tasks.
• This enables observers to see first-hand the
  process of task completion.

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Think-Aloud Demo

• Task Susan needs to find good task that shows
  dramatic change in redesign
• Volunteer Alison??
• Switch to Web site
• After demo tell them Alison is on U team and her
  comments were based on real users

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User Testing Result

• Show screen shot of redesign and talk about using
  the results from tests
• Q A

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U-Team Services

• Usability Education
• Consultations
• Usability Testing
• Comparative testing
• Formal usability study
• In-house testing
• Data analysis
• Current Members Jane, Susan, Kim, Elizabeth,
  Loretta Alison

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Explore more!

• Jakob Nielsen http//www.useit.com/alertbox/20030
  825.html
• LITA Regional Institute User Centered Design
  Workshop January 19, 2006