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Defining Usability
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Today, we will begin by understanding what usability is. Per ISO 9241-11, usability is the extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction.
What do you mean by effectiveness?
Great question! Effectiveness refers to how accurately and completely users can achieve their tasks. For instance, how many people successfully complete a purchase on an e-commerce site?
So, if a lot of people fail to buy something, that means the site isn't effective?
Exactly! Now, letβs look at efficiency next. Efficiency is about how much resources like time and effort users spend to complete those tasks. Can anyone give an example of efficiency?
Maybe how many clicks it takes to buy something?
Exactly! Fewer clicks indicate a more efficient design. Lastly, satisfaction encompasses how pleasant and comfortable users find the experience. Does anyone know how we can measure user satisfaction?
Surveys and user feedback?
Right again! To summarize, usability is a combination of effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction, tailored to the context of use.
Why Usability Engineering? The Business Case
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Now that we understand what usability is, letβs discuss why it matters for businesses. Investing in usability can lead to several benefits, starting with reduced training costs.
How does that work?
If a system is intuitive, then users donβt need extensive training. Less time spent on training means lower costs. Next, can anyone think of how usability increases productivity?
Users can complete tasks faster with fewer errors.
Exactly! This leads to higher output and efficiency. Additionally, a good usability design reduces support costs as fewer users will encounter issues they need help for.
So itβs cheaper for the company too?
Absolutely! Plus, user satisfaction leads to improved product quality and brand reputation. To wrap up this session, remember that investing in usability engineering not only helps users but also positively impacts business outcomes.
Core Activities of Usability Engineering
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Letβs dive into the core activities of usability engineering. The process is iterative and involves key activities like user analysis, requirements specification, design, testing, and refinement. Can anyone describe what user and task analysis might involve?
It probably means understanding who the users are and what they need.
Exactly! By conducting interviews and surveys, we gather direct input from users to tailor the system. Next, we translate these needs into measurable usability targets, like '90% of users should complete a task within five minutes.' Whatβs the next step?
Creating the design and prototyping?
Yes! This is where we create wireframes or mockups to visualize how users will interact with the system. Finally, we test these prototypes with real users and refine based on their feedback. This continuous cycle ensures we meet usability goals.
Introduction & Overview
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Quick Overview
Standard
Usability engineering integrates human factors into the system development lifecycle to enhance the user experience. By defining usability through effectiveness, efficiency, satisfaction, and context of use, this discipline helps prevent usability issues during development.
Detailed
Concept of Usability Engineering - An Overview
Usability engineering is a vital aspect of interactive system design that focuses on making systems user-friendly by embedding human factors throughout the development lifecycle. The section begins with the definition of usability according to the ISO 9241-11 standard, emphasizing four key components:
- Effectiveness: The accuracy and completeness with which users achieve their goals.
- Efficiency: The resources expended in completing tasks, which contributes to overall user productivity.
- Satisfaction: Users' attitudes and responses toward using the system, influencing their continuous engagement.
- Context of Use: Recognizing that usability varies based on users' characteristics, tasks, tools, and environments.
The text further discusses the business case for usability engineering, illustrating how investing in it can reduce training and support costs, enhance productivity, and improve product quality and brand reputation. Core activities of usability engineering, including user and task analysis, usability requirements specification, design and prototyping, usability evaluation/testing, and iteration/refinement are also outlined, showcasing the iterative nature of this process. By proactively addressing usability, engineers can design systems that are not only functional but also efficient and satisfying for users.
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Definition of Usability Engineering
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Usability engineering is a discipline that integrates human factors into the development lifecycle of systems, with the explicit goal of making them easy to learn, efficient to use, and satisfying for their target users. It's a proactive rather than reactive approach, aiming to prevent usability problems from arising rather than fixing them post-development.
Detailed Explanation
Usability engineering focuses on creating systems that are user-friendly. It involves understanding human behavior and incorporating this understanding into the design process. Rather than fixing problems after a system is built, usability engineering seeks to identify and eliminate potential issues before they arise. This helps create products that users find intuitive and satisfactory, ensuring a better overall experience.
Examples & Analogies
Think of usability engineering like designing a new smartphone app. Instead of waiting for users to complain about confusing navigation once the app is released, designers use usability engineering principles to test how people interact with the app throughout its development. This way, they can fix any issues before launch, just like checking that all parts of a puzzle fit together before completing the picture.
Defining Usability: ISO 9241-11 Standard
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The international standard ISO 9241-11 defines usability as the "extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a specified context of use." This definition highlights four crucial components:
β Effectiveness: This refers to the accuracy and completeness with which users achieve their tasks or goals.
β Efficiency: This measures the resources expended (e.g., time, mental effort, physical effort) in relation to the accuracy and completeness with which users achieve goals.
β Satisfaction: This encompasses the users' subjective reactions and attitudes towards using the product.
β Context of Use: This acknowledges that usability is not absolute but is dependent on the specific users, their tasks, their tools (hardware, software), and the environment in which they operate.
Detailed Explanation
Usability, according to the ISO standard, is broken down into four key dimensions:
1. Effectiveness: How well users can achieve their goals with the product. For instance, on an e-commerce site, this would mean how many users successfully make a purchase without errors.
2. Efficiency: This looks at how quickly and effortlessly users can complete tasks. Consider measuring how long it takes to fill out a form online; a more efficient system saves users time.
3. Satisfaction: This is about the user's feelings towards the product. Surveys can gauge users' happiness with their experience.
4. Context of Use: This means that usability can vary. What works for a tech-savvy professional might be challenging for a novice, emphasizing the importance of considering user diversity.
Examples & Analogies
Imagine trying to use a complicated new software program at work. If you can complete your tasks accurately (effectiveness), do so quickly with little stress (efficiency), enjoy using the software (satisfaction), and find it suits your specific job role (context of use), that software has high usability. If any of these aspects fail, your experience may be frustrating.
Why Usability Engineering? The Business Case
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Investing in usability engineering yields significant benefits beyond just happy users:
β Reduced Training Costs: Intuitive systems require less training, saving organizations time and money.
β Increased Productivity and Efficiency: Users can complete tasks faster and with fewer errors, leading to higher output.
β Decreased Support Costs: Fewer usability issues mean fewer calls to help desks and reduced demand for technical support.
β Improved User Acceptance and Adoption: Users are more likely to adopt and consistently use systems that are easy and pleasant to interact with.
β Enhanced Product Quality and Brand Reputation: A usable product reflects positively on the developer or company, building trust and a strong brand image.
β Reduced Development and Redesign Costs: Identifying and fixing usability issues early in the design cycle is significantly cheaper than addressing them after the system has been developed and deployed.
β Competitive Advantage: In a crowded market, superior user experience can differentiate a product and attract more users.
Detailed Explanation
By prioritizing usability in product design, companies can reap various benefits:
1. Reduced Training Costs: When systems are user-friendly, employees donβt need extensive training, which saves money.
2. Increased Productivity: An intuitive interface allows users to work more efficiently, completing their tasks faster and making fewer mistakes.
3. Lower Support Costs: When usability is high, users encounter fewer issues, decreasing the need for technical support calls.
4. Higher Adoption Rates: If users find a system enjoyable and simple, they are more likely to use it regularly.
5. Better Brand Reputation: Good usability contributes to a positive company image, promoting trust.
6. Cost-effective Changes: Tackling usability issues early is much cheaper than making changes after the product is launched.
7. Market Differentiation: In competitive markets, providing a better user experience can make a product stand out and attract customers.
Examples & Analogies
Think about a website that requires a lot of training to understand versus one that is user-friendly right from the start. The easier site will likely see more users who not only stay but recommend it to others, while the complicated one may struggle, demonstrating how crucial usability is to business success.
Core Activities of Usability Engineering
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Usability engineering is typically an iterative process involving several key activities:
β User and Task Analysis: Deeply understanding who the users are, what their goals are, how they currently perform tasks, and what their capabilities and limitations are.
β Usability Requirements Specification: Translating user needs and organizational goals into measurable usability targets.
β Design and Prototyping: Creating interface designs and interactive prototypes based on user understanding and usability principles.
β Usability Evaluation/Testing: Systematically assessing the usability of the design or prototype with actual users or experts.
β Iteration and Refinement: Based on evaluation findings, the design is refined, and the cycle of building, evaluating, and refining continues until usability goals are met.
Detailed Explanation
The usability engineering process is iterative, meaning it involves repeating steps based on findings. The core activities include:
1. User and Task Analysis: Knowing who the users are helps in understanding their goals and how they perform tasks. This informs design decisions.
2. Usability Requirements Specification: Clear usability objectives are set based on user needs, such as ensuring 90% of users can complete a task in under 5 minutes.
3. Design and Prototyping: Based on the analysis, designers create initial visual layouts and working models of the product.
4. Usability Evaluation/Testing: Actual users test designs to identify usability issues.
5. Iteration and Refinement: Findings from evaluations lead to design improvements, continuing until the product meets established usability targets.
Examples & Analogies
Consider a team developing a new app. They start by studying potential users to understand their needs and tasks (analysis). Next, they set a goal: 'Users should be able to sign up within 3 minutes' (specification). They then create a draft of the app (design), test it with users to find out what works or doesnβt (testing), and refine it repeatedly until it meets the goal, much like sculpting a statue, gradually carving away unwanted parts until the final piece is revealed.
Definitions & Key Concepts
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Key Concepts
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Usability Engineering: A systematic approach to ensure that systems are user-friendly.
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ISO 9241-11: The standard defining usability components, including effectiveness, efficiency, satisfaction, and context of use.
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Business Case: How investing in usability engineering can reduce costs and increase productivity.
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Iterative Process: The continuous cycle of analysis, design, testing, and refinement in usability engineering.
Examples & Real-Life Applications
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Examples
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An e-commerce website measures effectiveness by calculating the percentage of users who successfully complete a purchase.
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An organization reduces training costs by implementing a user-friendly system that requires minimal instructional input.
Memory Aids
Use mnemonics, acronyms, or visual cues to help remember key information more easily.
π΅ Rhymes Time
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To make it right, design it bright; usability is pure delight.
π Fascinating Stories
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Imagine a wizard who makes enchanted scrolls that are easy to read, quick to understand, and delightful to use. This wizard represents usability engineering.
π§ Other Memory Gems
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Every Engineer Satisfies Customers (EESC) - Effectiveness, Efficiency, Satisfaction, Context.
π― Super Acronyms
USABLE - Understand user needs, Specify goals, Analyze systems, Build prototypes, Evaluate.
Flash Cards
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Glossary of Terms
Review the Definitions for terms.
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Term: Usability Engineering
Definition:
A discipline that integrates human factors into the development lifecycle of systems, aimed at making systems user-friendly.
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Term: Effectiveness
Definition:
The accuracy and completeness of users achieving their tasks or goals.
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Term: Efficiency
Definition:
The resources expended in relation to the tasks users achieve.
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Term: Satisfaction
Definition:
Users' subjective reactions and attitudes towards using a product.
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Term: Context of Use
Definition:
The specific users, their tasks, tools, and environment that affect usability.
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Term: User Analysis
Definition:
The process of identifying user needs, goals, and behavior.
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Term: Prototyping
Definition:
Creating preliminary versions of a system to test concepts and gather feedback.