Is your web site usable? How do you know? Usability Presentation to Local.com January 17, 2008 Randolph G. Bias, Ph.D. [email protected] cell: 512-657-3924As you may know . . .Well . . .Slide 4OK, so you found that unsatisfying?ObjectivesProfessional HistoryTwo JokesDefinitionsPoor usability is rampantWhy does this happen?Why no usability engineering?The DisciplineSlide 14What is Usability ?Engineering, not artDesign2 Design ApproachesBe Empirical!Black MagicBlack Magic (cont’d.)Participatory, User-Centered DesignAnd so . . .Principles of User-Centered DesignA. Task AnalysisB. Perceptual/Cognitive TheoryPerception and Cognition (cont’d.)Slide 28So?C. UI EvaluationYeah, right, Randolph.Importance of a CBA (cost-benefit analysis) ApproachVersus?Slide 34Slide 35Slide 36Slide 37Slide 38Slide 39We’re talkin’ real dollars!Slide 41Slide 42Slide 43Slide 44Slide 45Slide 46LogisticsOnce around the room.Review SyllabusContext of UsabilitySlide 51Slide 52Slide 53Slide 54Slide 55Slide 56Slide 57Slide 58Slide 59Slide 60Check out . . .Slide 62HomeworkR. G. Bias | School of Information | SZB 562B | Phone: 512 471 7046 | [email protected] your web site usable? How do you know?Usability Presentation to Local.comJanuary 17, 2008Randolph G. Bias, [email protected]: 512-657-3924R. G. Bias | School of Information | SZB 562B | Phone: 512 471 7046 | [email protected] you may know . . .•. . . in 2005 we published the second edition of Bias and Mayhew, Cost-Justifying Usability: Update for the Internet Age.R. G. Bias | School of Information | SZB 562B | Phone: 512 471 7046 | [email protected] . . .•. . . I’d like to offer you one SURE FIRE way to decrease development costs.R. G. Bias | School of Information | SZB 562B | Phone: 512 471 7046 | [email protected]•Eliminate all software QA testing.Thank you very much for your time and attention.R. G. Bias | School of Information | SZB 562B | Phone: 512 471 7046 | [email protected], so you found that unsatisfying?•You can’t imagine Web or other SW development without testing for SW defects.•Nor is it wise to ship or “go live” without usability evaluation.R. G. Bias | School of Information | SZB 562B | Phone: 512 471 7046 | [email protected] - Offer a little background regarding usability engineering2 - Communicate the VALUE of pursuing usability in the development of your web site 3 - Demonstrate that usability isn’t just a “nice-to-have”-Thank you for having me here today.R. G. Bias | School of Information | SZB 562B | Phone: 512 471 7046 | [email protected] History•B.S. in psych from FSU•Ph.D. in cognitive psych from UT-Austin•Bell Labs for 3 years•IBM-Austin for 11 years•BMC Software for 5 years•Co-founded small usability consultancy•Previously adjunct faculty member at UT; Have taught at UT, Rutgers, Huston-Tillotson, (SW)TSU•Assoc. prof. in the UT School of Information since 2003.•Recently started The Usability Team.R. G. Bias | School of Information | SZB 562B | Phone: 512 471 7046 | [email protected] Jokes1. Establish the domain for our talk and2. Insult everyone in the room.. . . designed to simultaneouslyR. G. Bias | School of Information | SZB 562B | Phone: 512 471 7046 | [email protected] -- the quality of a system, program, web site, or device that enables it to be easily understood and conveniently used. Usability affords the user easy access to the product’s functions.HCI -- the point of contact between the user and the computer, including all physical and informational content.R. G. Bias | School of Information | SZB 562B | Phone: 512 471 7046 | [email protected] usability is rampant•“66.8% of online shoppers have abandoned sites because they were unable to locate a product; 59% have left because the sites were disorganized or confusing.” (1)•In a study of online merchandise purchases, “almost half of all attempts to make a purchase failed because the users could not work out how to complete the transaction.” (2)•It’s estimated that billions in potential revenue are lost yearly due to user confusion and frustration on the web. (3)(1) Georgia Institute of Technology (1999). GVU Center 10th WWW User Survey, 1999. Atlanta: GVU. (www.gvu.gatech.edu/user_surveys/)(2) The Economist (2001, April 14). Design Darwinism.(3) Rehman, A. (2000). Holiday 2000 E-Commerce: Avoiding 14 Billion in “Silent Losses." NY, NY: Creative Good.R. G. Bias | School of Information | SZB 562B | Phone: 512 471 7046 | [email protected] does this happen?•Typical software development process:–product conception (MRD)–design: product mgmt and engineering negotiate features–coding; maybe a visual designer makes a pass–QA / test–deployment–customers & users start complaining, support phones ring–big customers submit modification requests team gets to work addressing issues for R1.1•Why wasn’t the user represented earlier in the process?R. G. Bias | School of Information | SZB 562B | Phone: 512 471 7046 | [email protected] no usability engineering? •Website built to satisfy management, not users–“Branding” becomes the focus, site is treated as an advertisement, visual design overrides usability–It takes an act of corporate bravery to put up a relatively austere, simple site •Engineering owns too much responsibility for UI design–Thus, the UI reflects implementation technologies, developers’ design model•Teams can’t escape featuritis:–“Competitor A has these 5 features, competitor B has those 10… we’d better put them all in our next release.”R. G. Bias | School of Information | SZB 562B | Phone: 512 471 7046 | [email protected] Discipline•Human Factors•Ergonomics•Man (sic) - Machine Interface•Human-Computer Interaction•Human Performance Engineering•Cognitive Engineering•Software Psychology•Usability EngineeringR. G. Bias | School of Information | SZB 562B | Phone: 512 471 7046 | [email protected] Role of Psych in SW Design•Anthropometry Seats, Keyboards•Sensory Screen etching•Perception Synthetic speech•Cognition Desktop metaphor•Memory Menu