cmenschel's blogmania

Several weeks have elapsed since my last blog record. I started to write my bachelor thesis in August.Therefore I had less time to scribble something for the blog.What is the bachelor thing about? The answer is: Usability.I bother you with that stuff now! But what does Usability stand for? There is a diversity of definitions. An appropriated determination could be given by the ISO Standard 9241: “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.”

Effectiveness: The accuracy and completeness with user’s achieve specified goals
Efficiency: Time or effort to complete a certain task
Satisfaction: user’s attitude (positive or negative)

But one of the Usability forerunner, Jakob Nielsen, goes beyond these ISO statements: “It is important to realise that Usability is not a single, one-dimensional property of a user interface.” (Nielsen, 1993) Regarding Nielsen’s Usability approach the system should provide learnability, efficiency, memorability, low error rate and satisfaction. Yes, of course. This sounds weird and not ordinary. But Usability appears everywhere, even in your house and it goes through your bathroom, when you use your faucet or the shower. Which direction is cold water? More easy examples make it obvious that Usability is a concern of everyday things.

The doors in libraries, hotels, hospitals, schools, restaurants and lots more are traps for the Humans. The question is: Push or Pull? If a label on the door explains you what to do (to push or pull) then the function is needless. This door on the left image wants to be pushed, but the handle implies “pull the door”. Instead of confusing the person design a reasonable handle that provides a satisfactory use of the door.The use of a flat panel without a grasp would a problem solving that signifies a push. A fellow of Jakob Nielsen wrote a very useful book, called “The Design of Everyday Things”, in which he demonstrates Usability problems and discusses Usability issues to achieve a better use of the system. During my Bachelor thesis I examine the Usability of a Website with real users in a lab of the Hochschule Harz. I can’t present any screenshots or results, as long as my research work lasts.

In advance I can talk about the techniques that I use for my evaluation. During the test session the user has to accomplish a given task. The evaluator, the test supervisor, observes the proband while performing the tasks with the aid of an eyetracker and an interaction recorder . The eyetracking system recognizes and records the eye-movement of the probands. Thus I can analyze the user’s gaze. Moreover the conducted interaction, the proband’s facial expressions and voice are recorded by a special software. After the session the proband has to fill out a questionnaire to get the user’s attitude towards the tested system. Finally: Usability is a dynamic, multi-dimensional process, that cares about the human being. It is very important for the designer to know and respect the user. “Know the User!” (Nielsen, 1994) I keep you up to date here on my blog. My actual stage of affairs: I am almost finished with the tests and plan to write the result report as soon as possible.

Some links to read further informations about Usability:
- http://www.useit.com/alertbox/ (Nielsen’s alertbox about current Usability issues)
- http://www.jnd.org/ (Don Norman)
- http://www.baddesigns.com/ really good site about bad Usability
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usability (what does wikipedia say?)
- http://www.smi.de/ (SMI Eyetracking Systems)
- http://www.usability.gov/ (Usability guide)
- http://www.techsmith.com/morae.asp?CMP=KgoogleMhome (Software to observe a proband)

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