Design Usability

[Tami]

Design Usability
Eliana Stavrou

All of us have encountered websites that are painful to use. We know what doesn\'t work, and we might even have said \"This site would work better if...\" but how many of us have examined our own websites with these thoughts in mind? Maybe it\'s time for a fresh look. Eliana Stavrou takes you through the basic issues of design usability.

Being a researcher is a difficult and demanding occupation. You have to spend hundred of hours searching the Web to find the resources you need. Finding information as quickly as possible presents a huge challenge; it must be retrieved from the thousands of Web pages found on the World Wide Web. The biggest problem that interrupts the work of a researcher is the existence of hazardous Web pages that prohibit people from finding the information they are looking for easily and quickly.

These days, anybody can create a website. Many people put a lot of time and effort into the site\'s content, but then don\'t spend any time or pay any attention to the design of its interface. Of course, this attitude does not benefit the owner of the website nor its visitors.

Now that I\'ve told you the problems I face every day in my occupation, I will get to the point. This article is all about design usability. I will discuss the principles you should have in mind when designing the interface of your site, and show you a sample questionnaire you could use to assess the design usability of any website.

How many times have you visited a Web page that contains so much information that you end up looking around without finding what you need, although it may be right under your nose? When I’m visiting such pages I usually pass over them, since I don’t want to waste my time. After all, all this information is replicated across so many websites that you may find exactly the same information at the next Web page you visit. As Jakob Nielsen, one of the earliest usability concept experts stated, “Usability rules the Web. Simply stated, if the customer can\'t find a product, then he or she will not buy it.”

Nowadays, more and more companies are realizing the importance of Web design usability in improving their existing website. This trend has driven website designers to move back to basics in order to help keep users on the site (and generate money for the company in the process).

In the next few paragraphs I will discuss some general principles for user interface design developed by Jakob Nielsen. I often use these principles myself to design websites. It is important to develop the concept around the design and purpose of the website before you create the actual pages. Also, it is useful to adopt the users’ perspective of what they expect to find or do on the site.

Visibility of system status

It is important to have appropriate mechanisms in place to inform the users about the status of the system. Remember that users are impatient and will leave your site if it takes too much time to complete an action, especially if they don’t know its progress. For example, during a search you could present a percentage progress window so that users will know how much time the search needs to complete.

Parallels between the system and the real world

Users will easily find their way through your website if they can associate the environment (text, graphics, etc.) with real-world conventions. The interface of the website should relate to our own experiences and previous knowledge. For example, a basket cart image is associated with a real shopping cart and an envelop image is associated with mail correspondence, especially email. Through these associations you could make the use and navigation of the website pleasant so that the user will spend more time on your website (thus more $$).

User control and freedom

The users need their space to perform their job well. Users need mechanisms in place so that they can control the system -- for example, an easy way to return to the home page from any location they currently are within the website. Another example is the provision of the navigation path that indicates to the user where he or she is on the site, starting from the home page. It is a good practice to carefully design the navigation within your website so that users will feel they have some kind of control or freedom to make the site do what they need it to do.

Consistency

When designing your website, try to maintain a level of consistency. For example, use the same overall design among the Web pages. Consistency will help your users and make them feel more comfortable on your site; they won\'t have to wonder if different design elements, words or actions mean the same thing. If something happens, particularly something that can confuse your visitors, then you have probably lost them. Remember that your competitor is just a click away.

Error prevention

You think that your website is error-free? Think again. It is possible that you haven’t considered every reasonable or unreasonable action a user might take. After all, users are sometimes unpredictable. Before it goes live, it is a good practice to ask a friend to navigate through your website, fill out forms, or do anything he or she can think of. In this way, you will see the user’s perspective and find out if you could prevent a problem you did not foresee.

Aesthetic and minimalist design

Remember that quality counts, not quantity. Don’t make a Web page that people will freak out when they see it. Try to use colors and design elements in a way that makes your website aesthetically pleasant to customers. I have to admit that I’m a demanding customer. When I visit a Web page with black background and blue color text, for example, I leave!

Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors

Have you ever come across an error message that, instead of helping you find the problem and solve it, confused you even more? You really need to avoid such problems in your implementation. Error messages should be presented in language that the user can understand, and clearly indicate the problem.

Help and documentation

How many times have you come across an application or website that made you dive for the help manual to find what you needed? If the help manual is absent and the user really needs it to continue using the application or site, then you just lost your user. In many cases we may not use the help manual at all, but its existence reassures the user that it will be there if and when it\'s needed.

The interface of any application is the first thing a user interacts with, and therefore must be taken into consideration when evaluating any product or service.

This section includes a sample questionnaire you can use, based on Nielsen’s interface usability criteria, in order to evaluate the interface of web sites, tools, applications, and so forth. You can enhance the sample by adding more questions on issues that interest you.

The questions on the survey are formed as statements. To answer each statement, a scale of 0 - 4 was created (0 being “strongly disagree,” 1 for “disagree,” 2 is “neutral,” 3 for “agree,” and 4 means “strongly agree”). The user who has to answer the questionnaire must select the choice that best represents his or her opinion. At the end of the questionnaire you can calculate the average based on the provided answers, designate an expert to evaluate the results of the questionnaire and suggest improvements you should make.

Structure and navigation

* The content of the website is logically organized between and within pages.

* The navigation is clearly recognizable and located in the same place on each page of the website.

* I always know where I am as well as all of the available destinations.


Appearance and aesthetics

* The layout directs your eye to the main content.

* The design is appropriate for the purpose of the website and for the intended audience.

Consistency

* The website is consistent with respect to the following:

o Display format (page layout, use of color, fonts, images and background).

o Wording / Terminology (appropriate for the purpose of the site).

Learnability

* I was able to learn to use the services easily.

* The names of menu options and form fields are meaningful.

* It is clear what each function does and what I have to do to achieve my goal by using a given function.

Feedback

* The system informs me about its progress while processing a query or request.

* The provided feedback is helpful and the error messages are informative and non-disruptive.

* The system gives error messages that clearly tell me how to fix the problem.

Help and Documentation

* The manual and documentation is:

o Useful

o Easy to use

o Comprehensive

o Logically organized

Conclusions

The scope of this article was intended to remind you about some important principles you should keep in mind in order to develop aesthetically pleasant and logically organized websites. It also provided you with a sample questionnaire you can use to develop you own in an attempt to evaluate the design usability of any website.

I believe that it is important to return to school once a while to freshen up our knowledge and practices. By doing so, we develop products that are based on good foundations. Our websites need to maintain a high quality to get accepted by the users.

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