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This document provides an overview of usability assessment and its significance within the realm of user-centered design. It elaborates on the concepts of usability and utility, highlighting their importance in ensuring users can efficiently operate products while achieving intended goals. Key principles of user-centered design are discussed, including setting goals, user feedback, and the balance between design and user needs. The text emphasizes the value of usability in business contexts, outlining how it leads to better user experiences, reduced costs, and competitive advantages.
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IS214: Needs Assessment and Evaluation Introduction to Usability Assessment
What is usability? Nielsen:
Usability vs. usefulness Usability = ease of operation Utility or usefulness = serving intended purpose Both are important.
User-Centered Design • “The practice of designing products so that users can perform required use, operation, service, and supportive tasks with a minimum of stress and maximum of efficiency.” • “Making the design fit the user” not “Making the user fit the design.” --Woodson quoted in Rubin
Principles of User-Centered Design • Set goals • Target market, intended users, competition • Understand users • Design the total customer experience • Evaluate designs • Assess competitiveness • Manage for users: user feedback integral to product plans, priorities, decisions --Vredenberg & others, User-Centered Design
Value of Usability • Validate the business case • Ensure a positive first experience for users • Ensure positive on-going experience – make users’ efforts effective and efficient • Provide a competitive edge • Reduce customer education costs • Avoid cost of redesign late in the cycle • Reduce support costs • Make the world a happier, more productive place
Usability Slogans • Your best guess is not good enough • The user is always right • The user is not always right • Users are not designers • Designers are not users • Vice Presidents are not users • Details matter • Help doesn’t --Nielsen, Usability Engineering
The design/assessment process • My diagram • Kevin McBride’s (IBM) slides
Who is on the Usability Team? --Kevin McBride, IBM • UCD Project Leader • Total User Experience Leader • Visual Designer • User Assistance Architect • Technology Architect (continued…)
Who is on the Usability Team? • Human-Computer Interaction Designer • Marketing Specialist • Service/Support Specialist • Internationalization & Terminology • User Research Specialist
Some Considerations in Choosing Methods • Stage in the design/implementation process • What you already know, need to know • What difference will it make? • Justification needed to make your argument • Resources available • Timeline
Measurement Principles • Validity: measures what it purports to measure • Ecological validity: represents the conditions under which a system will actually be used • Reliability: gives consistent results under consistent conditions • Inter-rate reliability: consistent results across testers
One Way to Classify Methods • Focus: what is being investigated? • User needs vs. system performance • Who does the assessment? • Users (or proxies) vs. experts • Bases • Tasks • Actual (uncontrolled) or experimental (controlled) • Guidelines, standards • Standard or customized • Setting: controlled, unnatural vs. natural
Overview of assessment methods • matrix