ART 4567 INTERACTIVE MULTIMEDIA DESIGN

UsabilityUsability is a term that refers to the ease with which users can learn, engage with, and get satisfaction from an interface for a Web site or a piece of software. It is the product of several, sometimes conflicting, design goals:

functionalityefficiencyease of use

memorabilityerror tolerancesubjective pleasure

Sources available through LSU Libraries:

Designing Web Sites That Work: Usability for the Web [electronic resource] by Tom Brinck

Above the Fold: Understanding the Principles of Successful Web Design by Brian Miller

ART 4567 INTERACTIVE MULTIMEDIA DESIGN

functionalityThe primary criterion for usability is that the system correctly performs the functions that the user needs.

efficiencyEfficiency can be a measure of the time or actions required to perform a task. In general, procedures that are faster tend to be more efficient.

ease of learningEase of learning determines how quickly new users can learn to accurately perform a task. In general, the fewer steps a procedure contains, the easier it is to learn.

memorabilityThe degree to which a system taxes human memory determines how easy it is for users to remember. Systems that compel users to paste memory aids on their display screens are not easy to remember.

error toleranceError tolerance is determined by how well errors are prevented, how easily they are detected and identified when they occur, and how easily they are corrected once they are identified.

subjective enjoymentIn the end, usability is often determined by how users feel about using the system. Although nonfunctional graphics and other interface elements can skew a user’s perception of usability, user satisfaction is a combination of all these criteria.

ART 4567 INTERACTIVE MULTIMEDIA DESIGN

Usability is about the user.The better the usability, the better the experience is likely to be.

ART 4567 INTERACTIVE MULTIMEDIA DESIGN

Why is usability important for websites?

All websites have particular goals and purposes (such as education, e-commerce, or self-promotion). Every website should have an intended audience (or user).

Usability ensures that the website not only reaches its intended audience, but that the intended audience responds to and interacts with the website — satisfying for both designer and user.

ART 4567 INTERACTIVE MULTIMEDIA DESIGN

Factors that influence the level of usability

> The purpose of a site: Is the site meant to be fun or strictly business?

> The needs and experience level of the user: How computer savvy is he or she?

> The technology that’s available: Is there new technology that could make finding information easier?

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source: http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2007/10/09/30-usability-issues-to-be-aware-of/

Usability: Rules and Principles

2-Second-Rule

A loose principle that a user shouldn’t need to wait more than 2 seconds for certain types of system response, such as application-switching and application launch time. The choice of 2 seconds is somewhat arbitrary, but a reasonable order of magnitude. Reliable principle: the less users have to wait, the better is the user experience.

ART 4567 INTERACTIVE MULTIMEDIA DESIGN

3-Click-Rule

According to this rule, users stop using the site if they aren’t able to find the information or access the site feature within 3 mouse clicks.

In other words, the rule emphasizes the importance of clear navigation, logical structure and easy-to-follow site hierarchy. In most situations the number of clicks is irrelevant; what is really important is that visitors always know where they are, where they were and where they can go next. Even 10 clicks are OK if users feel that they have a full understanding of how the system works.

ART 4567 INTERACTIVE MULTIMEDIA DESIGN

Visual forms of interface/web design

1. Focus http://www.alistapart.com/

2. Color http://graphic-exchange.com/

3. Typography http://bobulate.com/

4. Images http://www.jamiegregory.co.uk/

5. Grid http://www.cnn.com

ART 4567 INTERACTIVE MULTIMEDIA DESIGN

source: http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2007/10/09/30-usability-issues-to-be-aware-of/

Psychology of Usability

Baby-Duck-SyndromeDescribes the tendency for visitors to stick to the first designthey learn and judge other designs by their similarity to thatfirst design. Users generally prefer systems similar to those they learned on and dislike unfamiliar systems.

> This is why we generally do not like website re-designs!

(example: How do you feel when you have to learn a newoperating system or a new version of software?)

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Banner-Blindness

Users almost never look at anything that looks like an advertisement, whether or not it’s actually an ad.

Heatmaps from eyetracking studies: The areas where users looked the most are colored red; the yellow areas indicate fewer views, followed by the least-viewed blue areas. Gray areas didn’t attract any fixations.

http://www.useit.com/alertbox/banner-blindness.html

http://web.archive.org/web/20100813142028/http://havenworks.com/

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http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2007/09/27/10-usability-nightmares-you-should-be-aware-of/

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/02/18/9-common-usability-blunders/

Usability problems to avoid

visual noise/clutterdead endsmassive download timeno search functiontiny clickable areasno way to get in touch with a human beinglong registration forms

ART 4567 INTERACTIVE MULTIMEDIA DESIGN

invisible linksVisitors have to know where they are, where they’ve been and where they can go next. If designers don’t present this information in an appropriate way, visitors can have problems with site navigation.

pop-ups for content presentationAlmost every modern web browser uses a popup-blocker to prevent pop-ups — never depend on your user to disable his popup-blocker.

drop-down menusIf you hide navigation items in a drop-down menu you can save yourself a large amount of vertical space; however users have to focus the mouse precisely to get to the section they’d like to visit. A drop-down menu must be designed so that it’s functionality is obvious and apparent to the user. Use them wisely!

blinking imagesTo fight against the banner blindness advertisers make use of animated ads. It is extremely hard for a user to focus on reading if such images are blinking all around the content.

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framesFrames have the following usability problems associated with them:>Pages can be unprintable>Pages can’t be bookmarked, nor their URLs emailed>The back, refresh and history buttons can become disabled

Flash-based contentUntil Apple and Flash “make nice”, Flash content will not appear on Apple devices — meaning that a large portion of your audience will not see your site. It would be wise to avoid designing web content in Flash. Read more about this topic here: http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughts-on-flash/

ART 4567 INTERACTIVE MULTIMEDIA DESIGN

some examples of successful usability

Navigationhttp://www.newyorkmag.com/

http://customtoronto.ca/

http://www.famouscookies.com/

http://www.joyent.com/

http://www.creattica.com

Breadcrumbshttp://www.labi.org

http://foodnetwork.com/

Text Linkshttp://alistapart.com/articles

http://blog.typekit.com/

Grid Organizationhttp://www.underconsideration.com/quipsologies/

http://www.mica.edu/

http://blog.iso50.com/