Designing a site (1/4) – 1h

Designing a site (1/4) – 1h First Step

Lazar’s Development Lifecycle Define the mission & target users Collect user requirements Create and Modify Conceptual design Perform usability testing Create and modify physical design Evaluate and improve the website Implement and market the website

First step • Mission statement • what is the purpose of the site ? • Target user population • who is going to use the site ? • Project Brief • Another document! (highly readable and concise) • How the subject will be approached • The scope of the project • The intended audience

Mission: Characterising Websites

Navarro and Khan’s Taxonomy of Web Site Missions Effective Web Design (1998) Question: is this taxonomy still valid today? What other categorisation can you think of?

Defining the Mission Statement • What are the goals of the web site? • Inform or educate • Entertain • Market, sell or persuade • Different goals for different users ? • What type of interaction with the users does the client want? • Buy a product, subscribe to a mailing list, read information, download a patch, play a game etc • How will success be measured ? • Pages visited, products sold, customer satisfaction etc

Defining the Target User • To whom is the web site targeted? • Are there different user groups within the target population? • Can we develop separate user profiles? • Can we contact all these different user groups?

…. need to define …. • baseline specification (user) • platform, bandwidth, browser version, colour resolution, screen resolution, plug-ins etc • technical specifications (development) • platform, authoring tools, hardware, format etc • Content • Who is responsible for it? • text, images, dynamic media etc • navigation • menus, icons, hypertext etc • screen layout • design guidelines, screen display, colours, fonts etc

…. information required ….. • Demographic information • Age, gender, educational experience etc of users • Domain knowledge • Previous knowledge and experience of users • Computing experience • Support and training required in-house • Computing environment • Hardware, software, connection etc (users and in-house) • Content • Users needs • Benchmarking • Exemplars, competition • Other considerations • Redevelopment: previous data such as usability tests

…. decision time • What categories of information need to be collected from the user ? • Which data are most important to collect ? • What other web sites would be good benchmarks ?

Requirements Capture • PACT - • People • who will use the system • Activities • what it will be used for • Contexts • the contexts of the interaction • Technologies • what is technically/logically feasible

PACT - People • Physical Differences • Colour blindness • Impairment • Psychological Differences • Spatial ability • Experience • Usage Differences • Secretaries • Managers

PACT - Activities • Temporal Aspects • Speed of response • Frequency of Use • Cooperation - alone or with others? • Complexity • Step-by- Step or Browse Around? • Safety-Critical - allow recovery from errors • Nature and Content (input device, media)

PACT - Contexts • Physical Environment • Use Outside? • Slow internet access? • Social Context • Sound Permissible? • Privacy Necessary? • Organisational Context • Change power Structure? • Deskilling?

PACT - Technologies • Input • Bar-codes, Touch Screens, Speech? • Output • Video, Speech, Icons? • Communication • Bandwidth, Speed, Storage? • Content • Accurate, Up to Date, Relevant, Well Presented

Requirements Capture • CUTE - Constraints, User profiles, Tasks, Environmental factors

CUTE • Constraints: • Timescale • Budget • Standards or styles • Technical performance criteria • Development personnel • User training requirements • Legal requirements relating to usability or accessibility

CUTE • Users: • Physical and cognitive needs • Domain expertise • Education • Usage profile • Cultural background • Computer experience • Attitude • Work methods

CUTE • Tasks: • Functional specification • User-centred analysis of tasks • Their components • Sequences • typical scenarios • Context of work: • Work pattern • Work group dynamics

CUTE • Environment = physical aspects of the context of use: • Environmental conditions • Siting • Response needs • Criticality • Health and safety issues • Desk-bound or mobile • Stresses • Ergonomic issues

Tools & Techniques • Surveys • Paper • Electronic • Interview • F2F • Telephone • Computer Mediated • Focus groups • F2F • Computer Mediated

Data Gathering Methods - Questionnaires • Good for answering specific questions • Data: Quantitative & qualitative • Can reach many people with low resources • Must be properly designed • Low response rate

Data Gathering Methods - Interviews • Good for exploring issues • Some quantitative but mostly qualitative data • Interviewer can guide interviewee if necessary. • Encourages contact between developer and user / client • Time consuming. • Recording equipment? • Artificial environment may intimidate interviewee

Data Gathering Methods - Focus Groups • Good for collecting multiple viewpoints • Some quantitative but mostly qualitative data • Highlights areas of consensus and conflict. • Encourages contact between developer and user / client • Mix of people: Possibility of dominant / submissive characters.

Designing a site (1/4) – 1h