Transcript Using a user-centred strategy to maximise impact online

User-Centred Strategy Online
Fiachra Ó Marcaigh
3 June 2010
www.amas.ie
www.amas.ie
Presentation content
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Introduction
Internet today
User-centred universe
Examples – good and bad
What you can do
How you can do it
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Background
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A brief introduction….
Past
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Online since 1989
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Journalist and editor, The Irish Times
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Digital media since 2000
Present
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Director, online consultancy AMAS
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Extensive work public and private sectors
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Emphasis on usability, user-centred and
universal design
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Some non-profit roles
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Ideas Campaign (2009)
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Selected clients
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State of the Net: the publication
AMAS blog
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Internet today
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Trends
Broadband growth
Smart phones
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Web 1.0
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Web 2.0 - digital portfolio
Content sharing
Your website(s)
User-generated
content
Blogs
Multiple channels for Email newsletters
communication,
Social networks
interaction,
Social bookmarks
Syndication
transaction
Search engine
profile
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User-centred universe
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Online audiences
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“I don’t have to go
out and find news,
products or
services. I expect
them to find me.”
“Yes, you.
You control the
Information Age.
Welcome to your world.”
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Social networks – user-created worlds
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Examples
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Ideas Campaign
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Colour?
Texture?
Kerb height?
Decoration?
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What you can do
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Align goals and needs
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Success online
depends on this
alignment
User needs just as
vital as your
organisation’s goals
Users not tolerant of
gaps between these
elements
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Structured, user-focused approach
1. Strategy
8. Measure,
2. Technology
respond
7. Launch,
promote
Consider
user at
every
step
6. Search
visibility
4. Quality
assurance
5. Content
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3. Branding
How you can do it
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How to do better
Planning universal online communications
No magic – just doing many small things well
• User-centred thinking
• Accessibility to a standard
• Usability – test and improve
• Think user experience
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User-centred design toolkit
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Audience mapping
Surveys and focus groups
Persona development
Expert evaluation (heuristic review)
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Accessibility audit
Usability audit
User testing by representative users
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Know your users
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Who are your primary audience?
Who are your secondary
audiences?
What are the specific goals of
each audience?
What will draw and hold their
interest online?
Your audiences can include the public, sub-sets such as young
people or rural dwellers, interest groups, business, state bodies,
academia, NGOs – most likely a mixture of these
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Personas – your typical users
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Identify your
most typical
users
Name them
and set out
attributes
Use them as
yardsticks to
plan design
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eBusiness audit
Evaluation against
200+ best practice
checkpoints
customer
service
technology
infrastructure
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Focus on users
transact
at each level
interact
communicate
design
and
branding
metrics
operations
legal
online
marketing
usability and
accessibility
Test with real users
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Conclusion first
Then supporting
material
Finally – background
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Write for the Web - help your users
Conclusion first
Then supporting
material
Finally – background
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Conclusion
Supporting material
Write to be read
Help people to scan
Break content into chunks
Label and signpost
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Write to be found
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Search engines are vital
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Background
Accessibility resources, standards
“The power of the Web is in its universality. Access
by everyone regardless of disability is an
essential aspect.”
Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the Web
www.w3.org/WAI/
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Usability – Jakob Nielsen’s definition
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?
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Universal Design resources
www.universaldesign.ie
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User-centred success
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Know your users and their needs
Align your goals with user needs
Evaluate and test, with user concerns
to the fore
Build user dimension into structured
approach to online projects
Use proven techniques, such as
writing for the Web
Be guided by established good
practice, including universal and
user-centred design principles
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