Usability 1.0

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Usability 1.0

• J. Richard Stevens

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Rule 1

• Dont Make Me Think!
• Orientation vs. Engagement
• Conventions and Affordances
• Less is more, more or less
• Get rid of questions
• Wording
• Graphics

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How we really use the Web

• Design vs. Use
• Author vs. reader perspective
• Reading vs. Scanning
• Agenda function
• Users dont make optimal choices.
• They satisfice.
• Users dont figure, they muddle

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Designing Billboards

• Creating a clear visual hierarchy
• Prominence importance
• Relationships between objects
• Use recognized conventions
• Break up content, add definition
• Clickables MUST be obvious
• Contrast is key

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Omit Needless Words

• Be concise.
• Omit half your words, then omit another half.
• Kill Happy Talk
• Kill instructions

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Common Problems

• No sense of scale
• No sense of direction
• No sense of location
• Why design good navigation?
• To give the users something to hold onto
• To orient and inform
• To build confidence

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Examples of Bad Design

• Busyness
• http//www.e-tradehub.com/
• http//www.havenworks.com/
• http//now.sprint.com/widget/
• Interface gone awry
• http//www.cleanishappy.com/
• http//www.brillpublications.com/
• http//www.samanzerin.com/
• Bad Communication
• Conference Hall or something else?
  http//www.designofsignage.com/application/symbol/
  building/applicationpage1.html
• http//www.designofsignage.com/application/symbol/
  building/largesymbols/conference-hall.htmlBad20D
  esign

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Persistent Navigation

• Every page must be consistent
• Homepage, forms, etc.
• Why we do what others do
• Sections and subsections
• Utilities
• Searching
• Street signs as page names
• Placement and consistency
• Breadcrumbs

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The End Experience

• Always keep in mind the end-user experience
• Tailor content to fit into end-user spaces
• Consider the environment of use

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Trunk Testing

1. What site is this?
2. What page am I on?
3. What are the major sections?
4. What are my options?
5. Where am I in the scheme of things?
6. How can I search?

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Web Team Arguments

• Everybody Likes
• The myth of the average user
• The antidote for religious debate testing.