Usability and Information
Architecture
Presenter: Caris Hurd
Agenda
 What
is Usability?
User-centered design
 Definition of usability
 Usability vs. IA

 Usability
Methods
Heuristic evaluations
 Usability testing

 Resources
User-Centered Design
 Considers
audience (Who?), purpose (What? Why? How?),
context (Where? When?)
 Major
characteristics of UCD:
Users involved in the entire design process
 Design is iterative

Source: http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/bringing-user
What is Usability?
 The
ease of use and learnability
of a human-made object. The
object of use can be a software
application, website, book, tool,
machine, process, or anything a
human interacts with.
 Methods
for improving ease-ofuse during design process
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usability
Image credit: http://strangenstranger.blogspot.com/2010/10/strange-signs_16.html
Definitions

ISO: "The extent to which a product can be used by specified users
to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency, and
satisfaction in a specified context of use.”

Jakob Nielsen:

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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?
Useful = usability + utility
Source: http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20030825.html
Why do we care?
 Websites
designed with users in mind are:
More efficient to use: takes less time to accomplish tasks
 Easier to learn: learn without special instruction
 More satisfying to use: happy users!

 Information
architecture contributes to usability
Labeling and categorization
 Organization of content

Usability vs. IA
Information Architecture:
Source: http://www.louisrosenfeld.com/home/bloug_archive/images/010725b.gif
Usability vs. IA
Source: http://www.louisrosenfeld.com/home/bloug_archive/images/011014model.gif
__ is a subset of __
 Usability

as subset of IA
Users + Content + Context = IA
 Users: Designing for users is inherent in both usability and IA
 Other non-usability concerns need to be addressed as well:
 Content: format of content & metadata
 Context: budgets, technical constraints, business goals, etc.
 Being completely user-centered is not realistic or appropriate; IAs
should address all three areas
 IA
as subset of Usability
Certainly navigation and labeling are IA, but poor copy, font size,
form design, site bandwidth/database speed, and color contrast are
not
 Fixing usability problems sometimes involves IA, but not always

Source: http://www.digital-web.com/articles/information_architecture_is_not_usability/
Reality
Source: http://www.louisrosenfeld.com/home/bloug_archive/images/010813b.gif
Reality
Source: http://www.louisrosenfeld.com/home/bloug_archive/images/011014elephant.gif
Usability Methods
 Card
sorting
 Contextual
inquiry/task analysis
 Interviews
 Focus
groups
 Surveys
 Heuristic
evaluation
 Usability
Testing
Source: http://www.usabilityfirst.com/usability-methods/
Card Sorting

Definition: Give users cards that represent site content and have the
users group the cards in meaningful ways

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Advantages:

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Quick and easy feedback that you can get early in the process
Disadvantages:

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Open: allow users to name their own categories
Closed: provide category names and ask users to put cards into these
categories
Does not consider tasks that users will need to complete
Results may vary widely
Software tools:
http://www.rosenfeldmedia.com/books/cardsorting/blog/card_sorti
ng_software_tools/
Contextual Inquiry / Task Analysis
 Definition:
method that applies ethnographic
observation with interviewing to understand the
procedures users follow to complete their tasks
 Advantages:

Can create detailed model of how users reach their goals
 Disadvantages:
Time consuming and expensive
 Difficult to scale
 Lots of qualitative data to analyze

Interviews
 Definition:
one-on-one question session with a
researcher and a user
 Advantages:
Learn about attitudes and beliefs on application
 Can follow-up with further questions

 Disadvantages:

Participants are likely to answer questions with how tasks
“should” be accomplished, not necessarily how they are
actually done
Focus Groups
 Definition:
moderator facilitates a small group of
participants by demonstrating a product or concept.
Participants encouraged to discuss and give honest
opinions, including suggestions for improvements
 Advantages:

Lots of information quickly
 Disadvantages:
Groupthink
 Sampling bias
 Does not test tasks, just opinions

Surveys
 Definition:
Giving users a questionnaire, now usually
online, to fill out to express their opinions or reflect on
their experience
 Advantages:
Quantitative data about users’ opinions
 Tools to rate users’ experiences, understand needs and
preferences

 Disadvantages:
Can’t ask follow-up questions
 Open-ended questions can be hard to analyze

Heuristic Evaluations
 Definition:
Expert evaluators identifying usability
problems with a design
 Advantages:
Quick and relatively cheap feedback
 Can be done early in the design process

 Disadvantages:
Requires experience
 Usability experts can be expensive
 Multiple evaluators are recommended

Source: http://www.usability.gov/methods/test_refine/heuristic.html
Common Heuristics: Nielsen
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Visibility of system status

System and real world “match”
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User control and freedom to choose
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Consistency and standards

Error prevention

Recognition over recall

Flexibility and efficiency of use

Aesthetic and minimalist design

Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors

Help and documentation
“the king of usability”
Source: Nielsen, J., Enhancing the explanatory power of usability heuristics, CHI'94 Conference Proceedings, (1994).
Usability Testing
 Definition:
evaluate your product by testing it with
representative users

Users attempt to complete typical tasks while observers
watch and listen
Usability Testing
 Advantages:
Learn if participants are able to complete tasks successfully
and how long it takes
 Identify changes required to improve performance

 Disadvantages:
Slows development cycle
 Can be expensive
 No user context, lab setting

Usability Testing Process
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Recruit some users
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Ask the users to perform some tasks on your design

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5-10 tasks within a 90-minute session
Create a script that is used consistently for each participant
Read tasks one at a time and allow participant to complete the task without any
guidance
Ask users to think aloud: use the system while verbalizing thoughts
Observe what they do:
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Identify target audience(s)
Create tasks for the users to complete that represent the most common goals of that
user group
Task success / failure
What is difficult or easy?
Revise design and retest if possible
Recording Tests

Silverback (Mac) records screen activity, video of tester’s face
and voice, etc.
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Morae (PC) is more intensive to learn but very helpful for
usability studies
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Available for use in the IX lab on the 5th floor
Camtasia (Mac & PC) is not specifically usability software, but
can be used to record screen and audio

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Free trial: http://silverbackapp.com/
Free trial: http://www.techsmith.com/download/camtasia/default.asp
CamStudio (PC) is an open source version of Camtasia

Download: http://camstudio.org/
Conclusions
 Test
early, test often
 You
are not the user!
 Questions?
Sources and Resources
 http://www.useit.com/
 http://www.usabilityfirst.com/
 http://www.usability.gov/
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usability
 http://louisrosenfeld.com/publications/