paper & pencil

Good Reads Oct 19 - Nov 13

“Just add an egg” – Usability, User Experience and Dramaturgy
It's not just about ease of use and speed, it's also about the experience and even enabling the user to play a social role.

Jesse James Garrett | UX Week 2009 | Adaptive Path
"The user experience mindset is an acquired condition for which there is no cure."

The Myth of Usability Testing
The results are only as good as the tests. Use the right tool and design the test properly for the context and goals of the site.

A Plea to All Creatives: Stop Going to Work
"Balance = happy = creative = productive. Repeat."

Design - Exploring Options and Making Decisions
Jared Spool's summary of various workshops at User Interface 14.

How to Recover From Project Failures
Good ideas for recognizing, discussing, and resolving issues during a project.

Good Reads Weeks of Sept. 14 & Sept. 21

Improving the transition from paper to Photoshop
Tips on sketching concepts and moving from analog to digital tools.

Can Information Be Saved?
Possible implications of not preserving digital information and the challenges of preserving it in a way that would be readable in the future.

How I Draft an Information Architecture
Start by making it up, measure against users and content, tweak, repeat until it feels right.

Bing Visual Search Interesting, but Needs More Purpose
Review of Bing's visual search compared to Google Fast Flip

Sustainable mobility #1: think more, move less
Instead of findings alternative fuel sources, John Tackara says we "need to re-think the way we use time and space."

The Good Enough Revolution: When Cheap and Simple Is Just Fine
The rise of Good Enough Tech such as the Flip camcorder and why it happened.

Missing the Point in the Design of Electronic Medical Records
EMR's can be effective but they currently suffer from poor visual layout and organization of the information.

Systems Thinking: A Product Is More Than the Product
Products are services and it's al about the experience. Systems thinking helps companies think through the entire experience, in various stages.

Breaking Up Large Documents for the Web & Part 2
Excerpt from Ginny Redish's new book on writing and presenting content on the web.

Lisa Strausfield: Redesigning Government
Work history of Lisa Strausfield who is going to be using her IA skills to bring more awareness to government facts.

The Duct-Tape Programmer
KISS principle in relation to software development programmers. "Shipping is a feature. A really important feature. Your product must have it."

Empathy and Emotionally Intelligent Signage
Using language to generate empathy and influence behavior.

When is it “Useable Enough?”

Notes from the UIE Brain Sparks podcast: Userability #9 - When is it "Useable Enough?"

• Establish metrics for what is considered usable enough, e.g. 80% task completion, 90% satisfaction
• Check out Measuring the User Experience
• "Get to point of least astonishment", no more surprises during usability testing
• Getting new results with each user, keep testing
• Incomplete tasks - is the reason expected or a surprise
• Tasks can be completed as expected = usable enough for beta release
• Problem areas are not deemed large enough to hold off releasing in beta
• Surprises after release, unexpected responses = didn't do enough work and testing (think anytime Facebook releases anything new or changed)
• "Most people, most of the time"

Best Careers 2009: UX, IxD and IA. Hooray!!

US. News & World Report named Usability Experience Specialist as one of the best careers for 2009. At the start of the article the author lists all the other job title variations this profession uses. I consider myself an Interaction Designer, but my official title is Information Architect. Dan Saffer created a good model of the wide range of UX disciplines.

Whatever you call them, their job is to help ensure that products, especially technical ones, are easy and pleasurable to use.

I am concerned though that the articles does focus much more on evaluation and research and completely skips over design.

You write a report summarizing what you've learned. Then, engineers develop a prototype of the product that comes closest to meeting both the company's and the surgeons' desires.

In between these two sentences is a HUGE step - the design phase where the research is analyzed and converted into solutions that the engineering team can then build. This is where the iPod comes from instead of just another MP3 player.

Five Second Test

Matt Milosavljevic created an online tool for setting up a five second test. Upload an image of your interface and choose the type of test:

• Classic - originated by Jared Spool, asks users to list what they can recall.
• Compare - upload two interfaces and ask users to choose which variation they prefer.
• Sentiment - asks user to list their favorite and least favorite elements.

The test can be sent out by invitation only or open to the public.

Redesigning Sony-Ericsson's Product Catalog

The following are notes from the Interaction08 session - Redesigning Sony Ericsson's Product Catalog, presented by Saskia Idzerda. She presented findings from a series of usability studies conducted around the world on the Sony Ericsson Mobile Phone Product Catalog web page. Check out the current page.

Unfortunately, the slides from the talk which show the design variations of the page don't seem to be online yet. But the video is available and they do a good job of showing the slides.

Notes:

• Was a product list but became too long as catalog grew from 10 to 20 to 70 different phones
• Customers indicated they wanted: 1) ways to filter the list and 2) summary info before the detail
• Usability Process: Created 3 throwaway protoypes > usability tests > from the findings created 1 prototype > usability test > final prototype > international usability tests.
• Used Agile development process
• 1st test with 7 testers in Sweden on all 3 prototypes
  • prototype #1 had a filter panel on the left with multi-steps, all white, mouseover photo provided detail
  • Didn't see the filter options, focused on the product photos
  • didn't see Next links in selection panels
  • got confused when combo of filter options and got 0 results
  • cannot underestimate the pull of product photos
• 2nd prototype had filter panel on left with expand/collapse categories of options
  • forgot selections when collapsed and wans't sure if list still couldn't take it into account
  • linked to large preview image
• 3rd prototype had 1 panel with all options visible and instant update of list, sliders for some options (size, etc.)
  • noticed more b/c of color choices
  • instantly updated list
  • size of the phone is an important selection factor
  • confused by how the sliders worked, did not get it at all
• Lessons learned
  • visibility is key
  • all controls visible all the time
  • immediate feedback necessary
  • avoid zero results
  • no innovative sliders
• 4th prototype included new marketing categories (In Focus = Camera phone, In Tune = Music Phone, In Style = Design Phones..) in tabs across top, filter panel also moved from the left to above the phone images
  • tested with 8 users in Sweden
  • users didn't see the categories, to separate from the phones
  • also even though some phones could play music they weren't considered music phones, those have additional functionality, same with camera phones. So, result is confusing to the user. Also, not easily translatable to other languages.
  • graphically the tabs looked like banners which resulted in users ignoring them
• Final prototype included categories within the filter panel, which remained above the images for better visibility
  • features written as user focused benefits "can take pictures" vs. "camera phone"
  • list is immediately update
  • as filters are chosen, any other filters that would result in 0 results is grayed out
  • click to preview w/large image and summary where filter panel was, instead of on mouseover, inline
  • comparison tool displays where filter panel is as needed, better imagery to "show" drag-n-drop
• International usability tests findings
  • everyone looked at phone images 1st
  • only US cared about styles
  • India users hated the color green, thought it was dull; everyone else said it was nice
  • No one noticed background image
  • 50% of China users preferred old design, tend to like dense layouts, to see all the phones at once
  • no one used the filters much in non-US countries
  • introduced an artificial progress bar to show the results were changing and it worked as the changes were quick and users didn't notice anything changed
  • users loved the drag-n-drop comparison tool but it had to be pointed out to them, didn't get it on their own
  • some filters had to be "only" (camera phones) and some had to be "and" (clamshell and slide out) so got a little confusing but result made sense to users
• what went live is similar to final prototype with some color changes
• Analytics since the implementation of the new design
  • 1/5 use the drag-n-drop comparison tool
  • filter options: 50% benefits (can take pics), 27% style (clamshell, stick, etc.), 22% category (music, camera, etc.)
• Usability studies were very valuable but they did see some conflicts with what occurs in reality
• about answering "can" people use it but doesn't answer "if" and "how"
• if & how users will use a feature is hard to test, hard to create the motivation in a test
• So, not a cure-all but still beneficial. Combine with other measurement tools such as surveys, field research and web analytics to get a more complete picture

Design v. Usability

Nielsen warns Web 2.0 Can Be Dangerous, which sparked an interesting and lengthy discussion on the IxDA list on definitions of design and usability. One interesting, although mistaken, argument is that designers are more enlightened about good design than usability practitioners.

One of Jared's responses:

Designers and usability practitioners have different roles in the design process and, when they work together well, they can produce amazing results. Of course, it takes little skill to do something poorly (damn, I really want to get that on a t-shirt) , so when they work together poorly, which takes virtually no skill or effort, then the results are likely to be less-than-desirable.

The 5 Competencies of UX Design

Steve Psomas describes the 5 Competencies of UX Design in UX Matters.

1. IA
2. IxD
3. Usability Engineering
4. Visual Design
5. Prototype Engineering

For each he outlines the questions to ask yourself and the options for doing the groundwork and delivering the output. The author advises using these competencies to help determine you strengths and weaknesses and as an individual and as a team.

If you, like me, are deep into making design decisions day after day, you might at times become disoriented and need to realign your thinking about the appropriateness and purpose of the task at hand. It’s important that we come up for air once in a while, not only in the midst of creating our deliverables, but also when managing our time and our team’s expectations.

Our industry is at a crossroads, scrambling to adjust to the demand for richness in Web applications. Design principles, processes, tools, and resources are changing, too. So, now we need to clarify the value of UX design and the competencies it offers to the greater product development process.

Illuminate a Clear Path to Completion

Luke Wroblewski presents the findings of a usability study on Primary & Secondary Actions in Web Forms. What's interesting about the results is that participants performed the task the quickest when there is no visual distinction between the Submit and Cancel buttons. However, in discussions with the participants they said they liked the visual distinctions better as it assured them they were clicking on the right choice. The analysis then is sometimes it's better to slow users down if it will results in less mistakes.

Five Usability Challenges of Web-based Applications

A new UIE article summarizes the Five Usability Challenges of Web-based Applications to help advertise their latest research report.

#1 Scalability

Many e-commerce sites give users the option of storing their shipping and billing information. What happens when users have multiple payment methods (such as a work credit card and a home credit card) or have multiple shipping addresses? For some gift sites, such as Proflowers.com, users could have many people they wish to send flowers to on a regular basis. That implies building sophisticated address book functionality into their order processing application.

#2 Visual Design

Take the common practice of supplying an “Advanced Search” capability alongside the standard search. A typical implementation will have a text box (for entering the query), a “Search” function (for the standard search), and an “Advanced Search” function. Should the designers make both functions into buttons? Will that confuse the user? If they make “Advanced Search” a link, will users understand it’s an alternative command (versus an explanation or some other site feature)?

#3 Comprehension

Web-based applications often help people by doing things outside their expertise. They turn to the application to help guide them through a decision making process they couldn’t do on their own. Yet, if they make the wrong decision, it negatively affects their experience and their relationship with the organization.

#4 Interactivity

Users don’t always follow the “happy path.” They enter data incorrectly. They decide they need to go back and change something they’ve already entered. They discover they need to learn more about what the application is asking of them and, thereby, need more detailed assistance.

#5 Change Management

While users are resistant to change, they are willing to do it when given enough support and structure. The problem with quick changes often happens when users frequently use an application and the old design conditioned them to things being a certain way. Even when the change is to their advantage, they often need warning and support to go from the old to the new.