Transcript Web Usability - Webmasters' Support Group

Web Usability
UCR Webmasters Support Group
Michael Yonezawa
September 9th, 2004
What is Usability?
Usability is the measure of the quality of a
user's experience when interacting with a
product or system — whether a Web site,
a software application, mobile technology,
or any user-operated device.
http://www.usability.gov
What is Usability?
Usability is a combination of factors that
affect the user's experience with the
product or system, including:
– Ease of learning
– Efficiency of use
– Memorability
– Error frequency and severity
– Subjective satisfaction
Ease of learning
How fast can a user who has never seen
the user interface before learn it
sufficiently well to accomplish basic tasks?
Efficiency of use
Once an experienced user has learned to
use the system, how fast can he or she
accomplish tasks?
Memorability
If a user has used the system before, can
he or she remember enough to use it
effectively the next time or does the user
have to start over again learning
everything?
Error frequency and severity
How often do users make errors while
using the system, how serious are these
errors, and how do users recover from
these errors?
Subjective satisfaction
How much does the user like using the
system?
Print Resources
• An Introduction to Usability by Patrick W. Jordan
• Don’t Make Me Think: a common sense
approach to web usability by Steve Krug
• Information Architecture: for the World Wide
Web by Rosenfield & Morville
• Home Page Usability: 50 websites
deconstructed by Nielson & Tahir
• Designing Web Usability: the practice of
simplicity by Jakob Nielson
More Print Resources
• 250 HTML and Web Design Secrets by Molly E.
Holzschlag
• Usability Evaluation of Online Learning
Programs edited by Claude Ghaoui
• Usability Testing of Voting Systems by Federal
Election Commission
• Handbook of Usability Testing: how to plan,
design, and conduct effective tests by Jeffrey
Rubin
Online Resources
• Information Architecture: for the World Wide
Web by Louis Rosenfeld and Peter Morville
• Usability Testing of Voting Systems by Federal
Election Commission
• Usability and the Web: an overview by George
Murray and Tania Costanzo, at the National
Library of Canada,
http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/9/1/p1-260-e.html
More Online Resources
• What is Usability?, by Environmental Systems
Research Institute, Inc.,
http://www.esri.com/software/usability/whatisusability.html
• Usability.gov U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services
http://www.usability.gov/
• Usability Testing of World Wide Web Sites by
U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics
[PDF version]
http://stats.bls.gov/ore/htm_papers/st960150.htm
http://stats.bls.gov/ore/pdf/st960150.pdf
Even More Online Resources
• Notes on Usability Testing by W3C Web
Accessibility Initiative
http://www.w3.org/WAI/EO/Drafts/UCD/ut.html
• useit.com: Jakob Nielsen on Usability and Web
Design
http://www.useit.com
• User Testing Techniques - a reader-friendliness
checklist by All Things Web
http://www.pantos.org/atw/35317.html
Did You Know?
• The Webby Awards
http://www.webbyawards.com/
• User Experience 2004 Conference
http://www.nngroup.com/events/