User Interface Design and Ergonomics - National Open University of ...

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2.0 OBJECTIVES By the end this unit, you should be able to: o Understand usability testing o Understand how to carry out usability testing 3.0 MAIN CONTENT 3.1 INTRODUCTION TO USABILITY TESTING I have noticed that the term usability testing is often used rather indiscrimately to refer to any technique used to evaluate a product or system. Throughout this unit, the term usability testing is referred to as the process that employs participants who are representative of the target population to evaluate the degree to which a product (User interface) meets specific usability criteria. This inclusion of representative users eliminates labelling as usability testing such techniques as expert evaluations, walkthrough, and the like that do not require representative users as part of the process. Usability testing is a research tool, with its roots in classical experimental methodology. The range of tests one can conduct is considerable, from true classical experiments with large sample sizes and complex test designs, to very informal qualitative studies with only a single participant. Each testing approach has different objectives, as well as different time and resource requirements. The emphasis of this book will be on more informal, less complex tests designed for quick turnaround of results in industrial product development environments. 3.2 PREPARING FOR USABILITY TESTING For many of those contemplating the implementation of the usability testing program, the disciple has become synonymous with a high-powered, well-appointed, wellequipped, expensive laboratory. For some organizations, the usability lab (and by that I mean physical plant) has become more prominent and more important than the testing process itself. Some organizations, in their zeal to impress customers and competitors alike with their commitment to usability, have created awe-inspiring palaces of high-tech wizardry prior to laying the foundation for an on-going testing program. Not realizing that instituting a program of usability engineering requires a significant shift in the culture of the organization, these organizations have put the proverbial cart before the horse, in their attempts to create instant programs, rather than building programs over time. This approach to usability testing is rather superficial and short-sighted, and has a high risk of failure. It approaches usability engineering as the latest fad to be embraced rather than as a program that require effort, commitment, and time in order to have lasting effects on the organization and its products. I know of at least two organizations with newly built, sophisticated usability laboratories that unfortunately are now operating as the world’s most elaborate storage rooms. (An analogy is a retail store that requires and outfits a new store for business, only to realize that it does not have any interested customers). Having succumbed to the misperception that equates
the laboratory with the process itself, these organizations have discovered only too late that usability testing is much more than a collection of cameras and recorders. Rather, a commitment to usability must be embedded in the very philosophy and underpinning of the organization itself in order to guarantee success. In that vein, if you have been charged with developing a testing program and have been funded to build an elaborate testing lab as the initial step, resist the temptation to accept the offer. Rather, start small and build the organization from the ground up instead of from the top down. Regardless of whether you will be initiating a large testing program or simply testing your own product, you need not have elaborate, expensive lab to achieve your goals. SIX STAGES OF CONDUCTING A USABILITY TEST 3.3.1 DEVELOPING THE TEST PLAN The test plan is the foundation for the entire test. It addresses the how, when, where, who, why, and what of your usability test. Under the sometimes unrelenting time pressure of project deadline, there could be a tendency to forego writing a detailed test plan. Perhaps, feeling that you have a good idea of what you would like to test in your head, you decide not to bother writing it down. This informal approach is a mistake, and invariably will come back to haunt you. Following are some important reasons why it is necessary to develop a comprehensive test plan, as well as some ways to use it as a communication vehicle among the development team. It serves as the blueprint for the test. Much as the blueprint for a house describes exactly what you will build, the test plan describes exactly how you will go about testing your product. Just as you would not want your building contractor to “wing it” when building your house, so the exact same logic applies here. The test plan sets the stage for all that will follow. You do not want to have any loose ends just as you are about to test your first participant. It serve as the main communication vehicle among the main developer, the test monitor, and the rest of the development team. The test plan is the document that all involved member of the development team as well as the management (if it is interested and involved) should review in order to understand how the test will proceed and see whether their particular needs are being met. Use it to get buy-in and feedback from other members to ensure that everyone agrees on what will transpire. Since projects are dynamic and change from day to day and from week to week, you do not want someone to say at the end of the test that his or her particular agenda was not addressed. Especially when your organization is first starting to test, everyone who is directly affected by the test results should review the test plan. This makes good business sense and political sense too. It describes or implies required resources, both internal and external. Once you delineate exactly what will happen and when, it is a much easier task to foretell what you will need to accomplish your test. Either directly or by implication, the test plan should communicate the resources that are required to complete the test successfully.
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] NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY OF NIGER
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National Open University of Nigeria
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Summary ...........................
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UNIT 3 - GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE (
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Assignments File Tutor-Marked Assig
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2 DESIGN and DESIGNING GOOD USER IN
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need both the study unit you are wo
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CIT 711: USER INTERFACE DESIGN AND
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UNIT 1 FUNDAMENTALS OF USER INTERFA
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3.3 TYPES OF USER INTERFACES Curren
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3.5 USER INTERFACE MODALITIES AND M
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Table of Contents 1.0 Introduction
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3.1.1 DESIGNING A GOOD USER INTERFA
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widgets properly is to read and und
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Figure 1:- Showing that alignment o
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6.0 TUTOR MARKED ASSIGNMENT a. How
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A graphical user interface is a typ
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Operating System. It is easy for a
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A list of items from which to selec
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collaborative work. For example, sc
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MODULE 1 UNIT 4 HUMAN COMPUTER INTE
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3.3 DIFFERNCES WITH RELATED FIELDS
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window blinds to automobile braking
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Wickens, Christopher D., John D. Le
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The International Ergonomics Associ
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approach, the Gilbreths reduced the
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3.6 BENEFITS OF ERGONOMICS The thre
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Another key to reducing lumbar disc
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MODULE 2 - USER INTERFACE DESIGN TE
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methods include inspection methods,
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Determine time of each operation (b
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unable to understand new informatio
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M cones, or, misleadingly, green co
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Motor skill which is a learned seri
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MODULE 2 UNIT 2 UNDERSTANDING USERS
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The users of a system must be ident
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This example brings up an important
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whether you want to have a palette
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Task analysis which includes identi
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MODULE 2 UNIT 3 USER CENTERED DESIG
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or small body text is also hard to
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Introduction to User-centered desig
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organizations themselves. Interacti
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After thorough analysis using vario
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Interaction design which is the dis
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In human-computer interaction and c
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The preferred method for ensuring u
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3.4 ISO STANDARDS FOR USABILITY ISO
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In this unit, you have been introdu
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affect the way the command is execu
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• Guides the user via the predefi
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The term direct manipulation was in
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There are two important reasons for
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UNIT 1 PROTOTYPING Table of Content
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Figure 12: The iterative steps of p
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select print Figure 13: An interfac
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Ambler, S.W. & Constantine, L.L. (2
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3.2 LOW-FIDELITY PROTOTYPES Low-fid
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Figure 14:- Example of Sketching II
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Much more important for features th
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DENIM, an extension of SILK, is a t
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• Encourage menu & forms style, r
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Another problem is that native widg
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interfaces, so that a realistic sim
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UNIT 3 INPUT AND OUTPUT MODELS Tabl
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Recall that perceptual fusion means
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3.2 OUTPUT MODEL There are basicall
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directly-mapped pixel image will no
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Most stroke models also include som
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UNIT 4 MODEL VIEW-CONTROLLER (MVC)
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Page 148 and 149: UNIT 5 LAYOUTS AND CONSTRAINTS Tabl
Page 150 and 151: 3.5 CONSTRAINTS Constraints are rel
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Page 154 and 155: MODULE 4 UNIT 1 TECHNIQUES FOR EVAL
Page 156 and 157: a. Card Sorting Card sorting is a w
Page 158 and 159: Rapid prototyping is a method used
Page 160 and 161: 3.2.1 THE USE OF PROTOTYPES It is o
Page 162 and 163: Dumas, J.S. and Redish, J.C. (1999)
Page 164 and 165: the users' respect for you as a pro
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Page 168 and 169: speed whenever the average load was
Page 170 and 171: Table 4:- Table: Average times for
Page 172 and 173: phases: list the actions, and then
Page 174 and 175: Nielsen and Molich used their own e
Page 176 and 177: 7.0 REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING
Page 178 and 179: users. If you do not, you can be ba
Page 180 and 181: If you are led to develop more and
Page 182 and 183: It's very easy to shape the comment
Page 184 and 185: a. Analyzing the Bottom-Line Number
Page 186 and 187: you use. But then you need some way
Page 188 and 189: ecruit test users with more similar
Page 190 and 191: MODULE 4 UNIT 4 OTHER EVALUATION IS
Page 192 and 193: 3.2 CURRENT ISSUES CONCERNING EVALU
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Page 198 and 199: 3.3.4 CONDUCTING THE TEST Having co
Page 200: The stages involved in usability te
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