Usability and Internet Instruction

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Usability and Internet Instruction

• INST 5240
• Mimi Recker
• Utah State University

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Usability and Internet Instruction

• User interface design for usability
• enables users to fluently achieve particular
  goals in some domains
• seamless integration of content and control,
  including layout of information and navigation
• depends on technology depends on deep
  understanding of human elements within
  interaction
• Examples of usable and unusable interfaces?

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Usability in Internet Systems

• Loss of technical control
• Display hardware
• Connection speed
• Software
• User settings
• Loss of content control
• Hypertext
• Outside links

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Small Group Discussion

• What makes an Internet-based education site
  usable?
• What makes an Internet-based education site
  unusable?
• What makes an Internet-based education site
  learnable?
• ...Identify top 3 characteristics

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Principles to Support Usability

• 1. Learnability
• Predictability
• Familiarity
• Consistency

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Usability Design Principles

• 2. Flexibility
• Customizability
• Substitutivity (e.g. shortcuts)
• 3. Robustness
• Observability (provide clear visual messages)
• Recoverability
• Responsiveness (feedback)
• Task-specific support for users goals

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Usability via User-Centered Design

• Design philosophy
• Early focus on users and their concrete needs --
  designers contact real users
• Integrated design
• Early and continual user testing -- empirically
  driven
• Iterative design with progressive refinement
• Taking an expanded view of the product
• Focus on satisfying concrete needs of real users

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Process of User-Centered Design

• Continuous cycles of design, enactment, analysis,
  and redesign
• Conduct needs assessment
• Design/develop rapid prototype
• Evaluate
• Analyze
• Redesign

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UCD Examples

• Needs assessment
• What are learning objectives?
• How will web resources help students learn?
• Do users have reliable access?
• Design rapid prototype
• Design brief
• Screen/paper mock-up
• Alpha, beta versions
• Evaluate
• see next slide
• Analyze data
• combine, categorize, diagnose, prioritize
• Redesign

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Evaluation

• Recruit participants
• client, experts, users
• Evaluation strategies
• expert review, cognitive walkthrough, survey,
  focus group, interview, observation, assess
  learning/impact

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Two Evaluation Examples

• 1. Webby awards
• Content
• Structure navigation
• Visual design
• Functionality
• Interactivity
• Overall experience
• (http//www.webbyawards.com/main/webby_awards/crit
  eria.html)
• 2. WAMMI Web usability questionnaire