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Usability - and User-Centred Design (UCD)

The document summarizes key points from a lecture on usability and user-centered design. It discusses usability principles like effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction. It also covers guidelines for interface design from Shneiderman and Microsoft, including consistency, feedback, error prevention and direct manipulation. Examples are provided to illustrate guidelines like shortcuts, undo functions and tooltips.

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Aarav GK
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75 views

Usability - and User-Centred Design (UCD)

The document summarizes key points from a lecture on usability and user-centered design. It discusses usability principles like effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction. It also covers guidelines for interface design from Shneiderman and Microsoft, including consistency, feedback, error prevention and direct manipulation. Examples are provided to illustrate guidelines like shortcuts, undo functions and tooltips.

Uploaded by

Aarav GK
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Usability and

User-Centred Design (UCD)


Lecture 2
Today's Lecture
• Usability - is all about good design.
• Design issues
• HCI design principles (middle-level)
– Shneiderman's guidelines
– Microsoft Windows Style Guidelines
• Examples
• How do we achieve good design?
Usability
• degree to which specified users can achieve
specified goals in a particular environment
with effectiveness, efficiency and
satisfaction
• Which of these is most important depends
on the actual system
– May be ease of first time use (information
kiosk in a shopping mall)
– May be efficiency of use after a period of
training (supermarket checkout system)

3
ISO usability standard 9241

adopts traditional usability categories:


• effectiveness
– can you achieve what you want to?
• efficiency
– can you do it without wasting effort?
• satisfaction
– do you enjoy the process?
some metrics from ISO 9241
Usability Effectiveness Efficiency Satisfaction
objective measures measures measures

Suitability Percentage of Time to Rating scale


for the task goals achieved complete a task for satisfaction

Appropriate for Number of power Relative efficiency Rating scale for


trained users features used compared with satisfaction with
an expert user power features

Learnability Percentage of Time to learn Rating scale for


functions learned criterion ease of learning

Error tolerance Percentage of Time spent on Rating scale for


errors corrected correcting errors error handling
successfully
What is usability
• Generally regarded as ensuring that interactive
products are easy to learn, effective to use, and
enjoyable from the user’s perspective.
• Goals of usability
– Effective to use (effectiveness)
– Efficient to use (efficiency)
– Safe to use (safety)
– Have good utility (utility)
– Easy to learn (learnability)
– Easy to remember how to use (Memorability)
How to establish usability goals?

• We need to determine these measures:


– Time to learn – how long does it take for a typical
user to learn to use the actions?
– Speed of performance – how long does it take to
carry out the task?
– Retention over time – how well the user maintain
their knowledge?
– Subjective satisfaction – how much did users like
using various aspects of the interface?
Principles of interface design

1. Determine user’s skill levels – either


beginner, intermediate or expect frequent
users.
2. Identify the tasks –determine using Task
Analysis
3. Choose an interaction style – either direct
manipulation, menu selection, form fill-in,
command language or natural language.
Guidelines
• Since navigating the interface is often
difficult to many users, clear rules is
helpful.
• For example:
– Standardize task sequences: allow users to
perform tasks in the same sequence and
manner across similar conditions.
– Use check boxes: provide a check box control
for users to make a choice between two clearly
distinguishable states, such as ON or OFF
There are several ways of presenting general guidelines
for interface design. We will have a look at two:
1. Shneiderman's Guidelines (Shneiderman, 1999)
valuable guidelines when you want to design great, productive and frustration-
free user interfaces.
2. Microsoft Windows Style Guidelines.

Shneiderman's Guidelines
• Principle 1 : “Know The User”
• Principle 2 : Follow the Eight Golden Rules
• Principle 3 : Prevent Errors
Shneiderman's Eight Golden Rules
1. Strive for consistency
2. Enable frequent users to use
shortcuts
3. Offer informative feedback
4. Design dialogues to yield closure
5. Error prevention/handling
6. Permit easy reversal of actions
7. Support internal locus of control
8. Reduce short-term memory load
Microsoft Windows Style Guidelines
• User control
– the user rather than the system should control the
application
• Directness
– the interface should give the user direct and
natural ways to accomplish tasks
• Clarity
– the application should be visually, conceptually
and linguistically clear
• Feedback
– the user should receive immediate and tangible
feedback
Microsoft Windows Style Guidelines
• Consistency
– the application should be internally consistent with
other applications and the real world, with good
use of metaphors
• Forgiveness
– the interface should minimise opportunity for
error, and should handle errors gracefully. It
should accommodate user exploration and
mistakes
• Awareness of human strengths and weaknesses
– limits of capabilities, perception, memory and
reasoning
Microsoft: Awareness of human strengths
and weaknesses
– applications should respect human limitations
in perception, memory and reasoning

Example:
Tooltips
Shneiderman: Strive for consistency
Microsoft: Consistency
– the application should be internally consistent
with other applications and the real world, with
good use of metaphors
Examples:

window buttons
– CTRL-x, CTRL-c, CTRL-v for cut, copy and paste
Shneiderman:
Enable frequent users to use shortcuts
e.g. keyboard shortcuts, CTRL+S in this case
Shneiderman: Offer informative feedback
Microsoft: Feedback
– the user should receive immediate and
tangible feedback
Example: Lack of feedback
There is a thing as too much feedback...
Shneiderman:
Design dialogues to yield closure
Shneiderman: Error prevention/handling
Prevent Errors
Microsoft: Forgiveness
– the interface should minimise opportunity for
error, and should handle errors gracefully. It
should accommodate user exploration and
mistakes
Shneiderman:
Permit easy reversal of actions

Examples:
– the UNDO button

– the BACK button


in a web browser
Shneiderman: Support internal locus of control
Microsoft: User Control
– the user rather than the system should control the
application
– giving users the sense that they are in full control of
events occurring in the digital space.
New users may well not feel in control as they are
getting used to a system, but the experienced user
strongly wants to feel in control.
Users should be initiators of actions, not merely
surprised (and annoyed) if software performs actions
without the user’s knowledge or permission.
Shneiderman:
Reduce short-term memory load
interfaces should be as simple as possible with information
condensed, categorized and as much help offered to
memories

Example:
Having to
remember
many passwords
Microsoft: Clarity
– the application
should be visually,
conceptually and
linguistically clear
Microsoft: Directness
– the interface should give the user direct and
intuitive ways to accomplish tasks

Example:
Text selected
by pointing
directly to it
and dragging
End of Lecture 2

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