http://solpowerpeople.com/utility-interconnection/

• Core that is the bulk of the exam
– In lectures and lab
– Repetition
– Linkages
• Beyond the core is smaller part
– Just lecture or lab or homework
– Hot topics

While not done well enough:
• Analysis:
– Understand users
– Establish requirements
– Learn what has been done before
• Design
– Brainstorm alternatives creatively
– Prototyping alternatives
• Implement
– Prototypes of increasing fidelity
• Evaluate
– Usability methods
– Reflect on strengths and weaknesses of prototypes

• Concepts eg mental model, affordance, accessibility, guidelines….
– Introduced and used through the semester
– What do they mean
– Why do they matter
• Techniques eg TA/HE/CW/GOMS
– What are they
– When it is most appropriate to use them
– How to use them
– Trade-offs
• Technical – done as homework and demo-ed to tutor
• Links between concepts, methods
• Use concepts to explain, justify, critique a UI design

• Concepts and techniques for analysis, design, implement, evaluate
– Establishing user needs eg. ethnography, affinity diagram
– Establishing requirements descriptions eg. One Sentence Statement, System Concept
Statement, abstract and concrete tasks
– Ideation eg. Brainstorming, sketching
– Design guidelines eg accessibility, Nielsen (many many of them)
– Prototyping
– Evaluation eg (TA, HE, CW, GOMS)
• Studying people
– Observing users/participants eg. Ethnography, Think-aloud, (unobtrusive observation, field trials, logging activity automatically)
– What people say eg questionnaires (esp standard eg SUS), interviews, notes from think-aloud comments (Focus groups)
• Predicting usability (no users/participants involved)
– Heuristic evaluation (guidelines feed into design)
– Cognitive walkthrough
– GOMS
• Core characteristics of people, psychology, physiology, differences and theories
– Fiits’, Norman’s model, attention, perception, memory

http://www.nngroup.com/articles/usability-101-introduction-to-usability/
• Learnability : How easy is it for users to accomplish basic tasks the first time they encounter the design?
• Efficiency : Once users have learned the design, how quickly can they perform tasks?
• Memorability : When users return to the design after a period of not using it, how easily can they reestablish proficiency?
• Errors : How many errors do users make, how severe are these errors, and how easily can they recover from the errors?
• Satisfaction : How pleasant is it to use the design?
• (cf utility, Useful = usability + utility )
8

No-users, predictive
Novice
* Cognitive Walkthough
* Extended Cognitive Walkthough
Heuristic Evaluation
Users involved Think-Aloud
$ Observational study (lab or field)
A/B study
Monitoring
Expert
GOMS
See left
Key:
$ Method that is typically higher cost
Method we study – particularly useful, even for inexperienced evaluators
Other method we study

• No tricks
• Focus on the core
• More challenging questions based on assignment work
• All aspects assessable

• Focus on core of really valuable techniques
• Overview of some broader aspects
• Some hot topics, mainly linked to the project
• Introduce basic web tech
• All core concepts techniques are relevant to existing and merging interfaces

• COMP5427 Usability Engineering
• COMP5047 Pervasive Computing
• Human Centred Technology projects
– Summer scholarship projects
– Thesis projects