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Web Conference:Usability and Information Architecture Best Practices for Online Assistance Resources
Andy Bray, NEWMOAMay 23, 2006
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What We’ll Cover
Why is usability important?The basics, but still worth mentioningSite navigation – don’t make me thinkFeedback methodsEvaluating usability
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Usability Return on Investment
ROIInvestment ~ 10% of project budget should spent on usability! varies with project size; some activities
cost about the same regardless of project size
Following a usability redesign, websites increase desired metrics by 135% on
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Usability ROI (continued)
Metric Average ImprovementAcross Web Projects
Sales / conversion rate 100%Traffic / visitor count 150%User performance / productivity 161%Use of specific (target) features 202%
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Heuristics
adjective! enabling a person to discover or learn
something for themselves. ! proceeding to a solution by trial and error
or by rules that are only loosely defined. noun! the study and use of heuristic techniques. ! a heuristic process or method. (source: askoxford.com)
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Usability Heuristics
Visibility of system statusMatch between system and the real worldUser control and freedomConsistency and standardsError prevention
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Usability Heuristics (continued)
Recognition rather than recallFlexibility and efficiency of useAesthetic and minimalist designHelp users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errorsHelp and documentation
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Page Basics
Check page load speedsLet users contact youTest pages at different screen resolutionsCheck page display in multiple browsers
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Page Load Speeds
Home page ! Target: downloads within 10 seconds
Internal pages ! Target: download within 15 seconds
How to test load speeds! Local scripts! Online tools
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Test for Different Screen Resolution
800x600~ 14% of users~ 98% of all users at or above! Good minimum target
1024x768~ 60% of users
1280X1024~ 25%
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Test for Different Browsers
ExplorerNetscapeFirefoxAOLWebTV Opera
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Site Navigation
Clear and simple navigationBasics – general rules to live byNavigation Dos and DON’Ts
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Clear and Simple Navigation
A good navigation system should answer three questions:
• Where am I? • Where have I been? • Where can I go?
(Jakob Nielsen)
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Navigation Basics
Be consistentUse appropriate text for linksUse CSS to emphasize links! “well, that’s nice to look at, but…”
Always include text links! accessibility
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Navigation Basics (continued)
Text-based site mapInclude a home page link in main navigationLink logo to home pageInclude a site search boxCustom error pages
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Navigation DOs
DOs! Keep site navigation consistent throughout! Separate global navigation from local
navigation! Brand site throughout! Link to HOME! Support know item searching and browsing
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Navigation DON’Ts
DON’Ts! Excessive text links! Inconsistent page design or navigation
scheme! Disabling the browser’s navigational
features! Orphans pages! Multiple navigational devices
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Clear and Lean Content
Less is more! Writing for the web ! Pages are scanned, not readDon’t save the best for last! Put the most important information above
the foldEvery item on a page competes equally with the most important items
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Feedback Methods
User satisfaction surveysRate this resourceAllow visitors to report broken links“Contact Us”/feedback on every page! Forms – keep them simple
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Evaluating Usability
Methods for evaluating usabilityUsability testing misconceptionsLow-cost usability testing
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Methods for Evaluating Usability
Usability inspectionPeer walk-throughHeuristic inspection
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Usability Testing Misconceptions
Focus groups are not usability tests! Usability tests are trying, not brainstorming
Don’t have the expertiseDon’t have the testing facilitiesTesting is expensive
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Low-cost Usability Testing
WhoWhatWhereWhenHow
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Andy BrayP2Rx National Program Manager
NEWMOA129 Portland Street, Suite 602
Boston, MA 02114617-367-8558 ext. [email protected]
http://www.newmoa.org