Lecture 4 Flashcards
Why is usability important?
• Users will leave if: Website/app is too difficult to
use, Design and/or content of a
site is too cluttered, Difficult to find what they are
looking for, Too time-consuming to
complete a task
What is usability?
- A multi-part, multi-disciplinary process that that defines the parameters of a project (i.e., Scope of Work)
- The measure of the ease of use of a site
- Ensuring something works well
- Directly related to the experience of the user (i.e., UX)
- Based on the expectations and abilities of the target user group
What is involved in planning for usability?
- Research and Discovery
- Content Inventory
- i.e., Asset Inventory
- Site Mapping
- Wireframing
- Usability Mapping
- Prototyping
- Concept Design
What are some important usability principles?
• The 7 ± 2 Principle
• Humans can only retain 5 to 9 things at a time in
their short-term memory
• 2-Second Rule
• Users shouldn’t wait more than 2 seconds for certain
system responses
• 3-Click Rule
• Should not take more than 3 clicks to find
information
What are Neilsons 5 components of usability?
- Learnability
- Efficiency
- Memorability
- Error Rate and Recovery
- Satisfaction
What are Quesenbery’s five E’s?
- Effective
- Efficient
- Engaging
- Error Tolerant
- Easy to Learn (i.e., Learnability)
What are some Usability rules? Give examples.
• Do not make users think
• Your message should be clear and to the point
• Omit words that do not add to your message
• Design elements should make a user’s required
interactions obvious
• Design a page to help a user scan its content
• Clear visual hierarchy
• Logically related content should be visually related
• Clickable objects should be obvious
• Pages should be broken up into clearly defined
areas/sections
• Give users choices that guide them
• Don’t complicate the process of completing a task
• Avoid pull-down menus, opt for drop-downs
• A Home Page is meant to convey the big picture
• Don’t punish the user for getting lost
• Let the user know what you need
