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Usability Research Update Darlene Fichter University of Saskatchewan November 15, 2004 Overview Usability recap Research methods Research findings – – – – Usability Credibility Library jargon Library subject pages Usability Research Ever growing body of knowledge Used to develop design guidelines, but these should not be construed as rules Design guidelines should be specific – Measurable and testable Know how and why the guidelines were created – Is it the same task-design context as yours? What is Usability? Ease of use Ease of learning Effective Product Fitness for purpose Dorothy Kushner 3 More Factors Memorability Minimize errors Pleasing - subjective satisfaction Jakob Neilsen Strive to Be Ordinary Unexceptional Invisible Door knob is a door knob (exit) On the Web, follow conventions. What is Ordinary? Users expect to find: Home Help/Assistance Users Expect To Find Home Help/Assistance Usability Research Methods Focus groups are: a) Useful for gathering user ideas and opinions about a web site b) An effective usability research method c) A useful technique for finding out what people do on a web site Techniques and Tests Expert review or heuristic evaluation and task based usability testing do NOT uncover the same sets of problems Heuristic review tends to uncover usability issues related to presentation Usability testing tends to uncover issues related to domain-specific knowledge or interaction Usability is Becoming Institutionalized User-centered design and development - a routine practice within an enterprise Slowly becoming true, too, of library’s Stages of “institutionalization” are defined in Eric Schaffer’s new book, “Institutionalization of Usability: A Step-by-Step Guide” Some Research Findings Poynter Eyetrack III study – Preliminary – 43 people on news sites Encouraging Reading Smaller type encourages focused viewing behaviour Larger type promotes scanning If a headline was the same size as the blurb, bold and positioned on the same line the whole enchilada was more likely read www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=70472 Where Do People Look? Studies have shown that people start scanning in the main area of a Web page and initially ignore the logo, tabs, and left-hand navigation [Schroeder 1998] and that people's eyes are drawn first to areas that have saturated colors (pure bright colors), darker areas, and areas of visual complexity [Najjar 1990]. Eric Schaffer. Institutionalization of Usability. 2004 Poynter Eyetrack III Study Participants tended to focus on the dominant headline of a homepage first, not the main photograph or image Move in a S like pattern down the page http://www.poynterextra.org/eyetrack2004/viewing.htm#1.2 First Words are Critical Participants' eyes tended to fix more often and longer on the first word or two of headline links. http://www.poynterextra.org/eyetrack2004/viewing.htm#1.2 What Helps Recall? White space directs attention and enhances recall Animation captures attention, but does not increase recall – Increases perceived workload and frustration of users www.humanfactors.com/downloads/dec03.asp Use Multimedia Graphics for Unfamiliar Concepts People were more likely to recall facts, names, and places correctly from text format Unfamiliar conceptual information was recalled more accurately when participants viewed in multimedia format http://www.poynterextra.org/eyetrack2004/viewing.htm#1.2 Users Attend to ONLY TWO Forms of Media at the Same Time When users had audio, still media and written captions, they only attended to two: audio and images. Captions were not read by many. Text First, But Images are Viewed People look at people People are more likely to look at bigger images http://www.poynterextra.org/eyetrack2004/photos.htm Great at Gathering Data – Be Cautious in our Interpretations Poynter study showed:* – Eyetrack III participants noticed and fixated on top nav menus more “Having users spend more time on a task is not an often than other placements. And they checked right nav menus indication of athan better more often left. design, it's an indication of a worse design” Sounds better.Jakob HigherNeilsen clicks are do to its placement next to the scroll bar. Is this what we want – people staring at the nav menu bar? Is this a good thing or is an effective nav menu quick to peruse? http://www.poynterextra.org/eyetrack2004/jaysmall.htm Web Site's Credibility How Do People Evaluate a Web Site's Credibility? Results from a Large Study – B.J. Fogg, Cathy Soohoo, David Danielson, Leslie Marable, Julianne Stanford and Ellen R. Tauber www.webcredibility.org Branding and Credibility Users do not evaluate credibility by checking site author or credentials Users who do not have in-depth domain knowledge evaluate credibility based on – Design look – Information design and structure – Information focus Domain experts use domain specific criteria Prominence-Interpretation Theory P-I Theory posits that two things happen when people assess credibility: 1. A person first notices something: Prominence; and next, 2. Then, makes a judgment about it: Interpretation If one or the other does not happen, then there is no credibility assessment Fogg et all. Web Credibility 10 Categories of Web Sites E-Commerce Entertainment Finance Health News Nonprofit Opinion or Review Search Engines Sports Travel Demographic Who participated? – 2,684 people completed the study – Demographic information was optional, but 60.1% of the participants provided it Female: 58.1%; Male: 41.9% Average age: 39.9 Average use of Web: 19.6 hours/week The Design Look and perceived credibility suggests that creating Web sites with quality information alone is not enough to win credibility in users' minds Sites must have a "a polished, professional look" But not be too slick! “It looks like it's designed by a marketing team, and not by people who want to get you the information that you need." Why is Design Important? Cockburn and McKenzie, 2001 describe typical Web-navigation behavior as "rapidly interactive," meaning that Web users typically spend small amounts of time at any given page Overall “Are people really so influenced by design look and not by more substantial issues?” The answer appears to be yes — at least in this setting According to Elaboration Likelihood Model ELM (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986), without deep motivation, people will rely on peripheral cues, such as appearance, for making assessments Navigation www.humanfactors.com/downloads/dec03.asp Navigation Deep sites are more challenging to navigate – There is a tradeoff between depth and breadth in speed of finding – 3 click rule is a myth Sites with multiple levels should concentrate on the first level and the level closest to the ultimate content www.humanfactors.com/downloads/dec03.asp Navigation - Menus Expandable menus are slower to navigate Sequential menus help users develop a better sense of orientation Vertical menus are preferred over horizontal menus Indexed menus are preferred over vertical menus – Users scan group labels within indexed content Cascading versus Indexed Menu Design by Michael Bernard & Chris Hamblin. Usability News. http://psychology.wichita.edu/surl/usabilitynews/51/menu.htm Index Menu Layout Horizontal Menu Layout Vertical Menu Layout 3 Click Rule is Dead Xerox Park's work on designing for scent has clearly demonstrated that 3 click rule is not valid. Users will happily click through several screens as long as the navigational path has strong scent and is becoming increasing specific. Spool, Perfetti and Brittan. Designing the Scent of Information, User Interface Engineering : 2004 Scent Works When Designs communicate "scent" via links Links need to have a strong scent by containing "trigger words" that relate to the content that lies beyond Links between 7-12 produce the best results Users go to search when they don't find their trigger words on the page Spool, Perfetti and Brittan. Designing the Scent of Information, 2004 Scent Blocking Actions Iceberg syndrome Camouflaged links Banner blindness Missing words Information masking Spool, Perfetti and Brittan. Designing the Scent of Information, 2004 Iceberg Syndrome You can place links beneath the fold, provided that the page doesn't look like it stops What above the fold is interesting and relevant. Marketing fluff above the fold leads people to believe what is below is more of the same Spool, Perfetti and Brittan. Designing the Scent of Information, 2004 Camouflaged Links Links need to look like links. If you have a secondary navigational menu, make sure it looks clickable Spool, Perfetti and Brittan. Designing the Scent of Information, 2004 Banner Blindness Top 60 pixels of home pages - users typical ignore information in this area Spool, Perfetti and Brittan. Designing the Scent of Information, 2004 Missing Words Scent drops off. Words that were leading you closer to your goal disappear Spool, Perfetti and Brittan. Designing the Scent of Information, 2004 Information Masking Users have an expectation about what part of the screen will change, and look at that section of the page If the page changes somewhere, they will usually miss relevant links in other areas Spool, Perfetti and Brittan. Designing the Scent of Information, 2004 Presentation & Organization Jargon is alive and well on library web pages Lists of terms library users don’t understand http://www.jkup.net/terms.html Wall of text Intimidating Boring Painful Top Ten Web-Design Mistakes of 2002 http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20021223.html Ohio Study – 6 High School Students “In terms of content layout, we noticed that bulleted information, information contained in tables, and information presented in short chunks with bold subheads grabbed this group's attention. When the students hit a page that had paragraphs of information not broken up or bulleted, the students would move on to another page, even if the information contained the answer they were seeking.” http://www.ohiou.edu/mediapros/web/user_test.html Effective Library Subject Pages Users found a higher quality of information more frequently when using highlighted resources Users more likely to use “Best Bets” then “Core Resources” Experienced researchers were not distracted by highlighted resources When outside of their field, experienced researchers found the highlighted resources to be helpful http://www.lib.washington.edu/usability/archive/bysubjectsvideosummary Usability Research Recap A lot we can learn and use Focus our study on the tough problems Gives us a place to start Need to carefully consider the context of the research and sample of participants – Do they match yours? Questions
