Ann Olinger

[olintino-blog]

About "Usability Testing on 10 Cents a Day"

Steve Krug’s “Don’t Make Me Think” covers key usability lessons in an approachable format for even the layperson. Brief, concise explanations written in conversational language with inviting charts and illustrations make Krug’s work easy to digest. His Chapter 9 dissolves some of the myths surrounding the costs and expertise required to conduct user testing. I found his brief coverage of the history of user testing standards past helpful. His defined “lost our lease, going-out-of-business sale” usability testing process presented in comparison offers some exciting, easy to implement opportunities. I agree with Krug that great sites require testing and too much testing is done too little, too late, or for the wrong reasons.

It is a good reminder that we always need fresh eyes. I liked his example of showing around friends from out of town. When working on a site, designers and developers can get too close and know too much to be objective. Your site or project becomes your home turf. Showing around others allows you to notice things you didn’t notice before because you are too used to them.

Krug’s presentation of usability testing offers some easy insights to get started and improve current process. He includes valuable tips like “Recruit loosely, grade on a curve” and a format of make, test, fix, and test again. His cost-conscious approach almost writes the proposal for you to hand off to your boss or client. After reading Chapter 9, I am eager to take on the entire book and see how I could integrate more of Krug's ideas into my current work and project plans.

Reading:

Usability Testing on 10 cents a day:

Keeping Testing Simple - So you Do Enough of It

by Steve Krug

(Chapter 9 from Don't Make Me Think)

Note:

I had challenges using eCompanion to review this reading. Fortunately I already started earlier and wrote down the reading information. I found it hosted publicly at Krug's Chapter 9 of Don't Make Me Think. Recently I was also thinking that 250 words was the max word count not the minimum. Oops! Little late in the course to realize that. :)

[olintino-blog]

About "Meet Your Type: A Field Guide to Typography"

Leave it to the company founded by type legends Erik Spiekermann and Neville Brody to produce excellent typography education in a sensational 56-page digital booklet. Used as self-promotion, "Meet Your Type" is free and very tongue-and-cheek in its presentation. I will admit that while I have visited the FontShop website before, this is first time I took advantage of its educational offerings. Sure there are calls to action like use our tools, license our fonts, and so on but overall it covers a lot of bases and includes many quick and dirty tips. No pun intended on my end although the theme of the booklet plays heavily off the dating analogy. The analogy starts with the Birds and the Bees and folds all the way into Call the Love Doctor. While I thought at times it was carried a little far, the authors remained true to their theme and pushed its boundaries. That is a respectable endeavor. It would have been the easy way out to dilute it down. Instead they went with it and while little of the material was new to me, I appreciated how this perspective gave the materials a unique angle. It also resounded a theme heard in other articles and topics discussed in this class - Above all know your target audience. This booklet is all about finding the perfect match and while your needs as the designer matter, the user is still the one that counts most.

Reading:

Meet Your Type A Field Guide to Typography By FontShop http://www.fontshop.com/education/

[olintino-blog]

About "On Web Typography"

The game changed when browser makers put the ball in the web designers court with the @font-face CSS property. Now there are vastly more options for type and those holding the keys to licensing such as foundaries and type designers have a new revenue source. I agree with Jason Santa Maria in his article "On Web Typography" that being a web designer now requires a much deeper understanding of typography and how typefaces work. A standing requirement in the print industry is now enveloping the digital world. Of course the lessons used by print designers can be helpful in this area. However there are also additional considerations on the screen. To start as Santa Maria points out, web designers don't have the same fine control over typography. It is the nature of the medium. However there are still basic considerations that the author discusses such as contrast, legibility, and pairing. Although none of his points were revolutionary, I felt they were a good refresher in preparing my designs beyond the print world.

Reading:

A List Apart Article: On Web Typography By Jason Santa Maria published November 17, 2009 http://www.alistapart.com/articles/on-web-typography/

[olintino-blog]

About "Web Content That Persuades and Motivates"

To start, I like that the author calls himself and his readers out in the introduction. Chandler Turner is, as he puts it, one of those people - a professional salesman. He makes no apologies for it. Rather he calls out his readers to “stop right there” if they are not interested in the motivational aspects of sales psychology or using it to increase sales efforts. Starting an article with a warning is a bold move but also plays to his points made in the article. By appealing to an emotional response and outlining the benefits of his article at the start, I was motivated to action to actually continue reading rather than move on as suggested. Very clever.

There are many that may be appalled at some of Turner’s suggestions. The idea of using emotional persuasion as motivation to incite sales could seem manipulative or even distasteful. Even so, I thought it made sense. Why does so much website and advertising copy focus on what a product or service does rather than what it can do for me? Isn’t that what the user ultimately cares about? Turner is right; answering this is how we earn our users’ time and ultimately motivate action. Android and iPhone ads were a good example of varying approaches and their effectiveness that still holds true two years later. From the perspective of user experience, Turner addresses points about how this ineffective communication also fails users.

Reading:

UX Matters article: Web Content That Persuades and Motivates By Chandler Turner published November 22, 2010 http://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2010/11/web-content-that-persuades-and-motivates.php

[olintino-blog]

About "Personas"

As in the previous reading by Dan M. Brown on wireframes, he once again well describes what good process looks like and the advantages of it. This time however the topic is personas with the theme that “good personas make everyone happy.” (15) More importantly that than that, personas developed out of good user research methodology mean no one on the team should be basing decisions only on what he or she thinks the system’s intended users want. In my own experience, I have seen this happen in business. It is easy to think we can emphasize enough with our users to envision their needs. However it is a dangerous path not based in data and risks hitting off the mark every time. The information and process required to build personas seems like an advantage to the team even before the deliverable it distributed.

In particular, I thought his points made sense about learning a new way of talking about customers. Rather than categorizing solely by roles, demographics, or products purchased, the persona needs to capture and group user motivations. As Brown cautions, regardless of how the project changes personas should be used for this purpose – to capture user needs.

On a side note, who brought the term “Harvey’s balls” into common use to describe a “moon phase” chart? That is just asking for trouble. As I am sure it was intended. :)

Reading:

Personas

By Dan M. Brown

(Chapter 2 from Communicating Design: Developing Web Site Documentation for Design and Planning)

[olintino-blog]

About "Wireframes"

Schematics, blueprints, prototypes – a wireframe in any form communicates initial design ideas and illustrates how a user will interact with the site. Dan M. Brown nicely lays out the considerations when compiling a low-fidelity or high-fidelity wireframe including audience considerations, formatting, and details. Interestingly he also discusses some of the pitfalls and controversy with them as well. I was surprised by Brown’s preference toward simpler formats. However his explanation made me think, “You’re right. Why didn’t I think of that?” Just like any component of the strategy and planning phase, they fail when they try to do too much. It is more important to stay goal focused; ensuring your wireframe meets its intended purpose.

Along these same lines, Brown points to another challenge that can result from complex wireframes that include real content. While they may be useful to guide what the system looks like, Brown warns they can also stifle creativity in later phases on the product when the team is working on the actual visual design. This seems likely with the type of detailed, high-fidelity wireframes we are producing in class. With the precise layout, typography, and secondary elements, many design decisions are made; leaving little more than color scheme and font selections to the visual design teams. I landed closer to Brown’s side. Wireframes should take us from intangible requirements to somewhat tangible screen concepts not detailed visual templates.

Reading:

Wireframes By Dan M. Brown (Chapter 10 from Communicating Design: Developing Web Site Documentation for Design and Planning)

[olintino-blog]

About "What Users Do"

Users carry on conversations with machines, sometimes literally and other times tactically or via proxy. It is an area of study that is beginning to garner more and more attention even spawning degree programs across the country. In What Users Do, Jennifer Tidwell explores many of the ways this behavior and psychology should influence user interface planning and design. As she puts it, user interface designers script that conversation, or least define its terms. With clear examples and a conversational writing style, Tidwell makes a strong argument for user research and considering predictable user patterns when scripting these conversations.

Among the behavior patterns examined, spatial memory and habituation play a potential role together that must be considered when executing an interface design. I agree that consistency and convention usage can play an important role here. Likewise “knowing thy user” can help define the phrasing, styling, and personality these conventions will adhere to. Curiously, I wonder how this plays out when updating or even overhauling a current interface. If there is a strong user base, but obvious pain points - how do you introduce a redesign without interrupting spatial memory and habituation? Even if you can justify it through user testing and improved experience, how do you actually garner user buy in to execute it? I would have been interested in Tidwell’s take in this area as well.

Reading:

What Users Do By Jennifer Tidwell (Chapter 1 from Designing Interfaces: Patterns for Effective Interaction Design)

[olintino-blog]

About "The Skeleton Plane"

Jesse James Garrett presents similar content as Steve Krug but from a more traditional, academic approach. This alternative direction reinforces and expands on Krugs points. Garrett’s chapter focuses on what he terms the “skeleton plane” that emphases individual pages and their components including three areas of design – interface design, navigation design, and information design. Although his approach isn’t as easily digestible, I found the information and details contained valuable and worth the extra effort.

I also appreciate how Garrett brings all the components together at the end with a discussion about page layout and application in wireframes. As a bare-bones depiction of all components and how they fit together, the wireframe is the next step to utilizing the concept knowledge presented earlier in the chapter. I agree that a cohesive skeleton needs to bring together the three areas of design he expounds on. In particular, I found his point about bringing together information architects and designers to produce wireframes an important factor when team roles are divided. This collaboration brings together the team just as Garrett brings together his points.

Reading:

The Skeleton Plane By Jesse James Garrett (Chapter 6 from The Elements of User Experience)

[olintino-blog]

About "Street Signs and Breadcrumbs"

Similar to the title of his book “Don’t Make Me Think! A Common Sense Approach…,” Steve Krug presents his topics with clarity and common illustrations to guide his readers. I found this chapter to present web wayfinding and navigation with appropriate analogies and applicable examples; making it easy to grasp new concepts and reinforce those I already knew. For example, search as the equivalent of asking the store clerk is a correlation that makes sense. It also leads to our own conclusions. You wouldn’t have a store without clerks concluding you probably shouldn’t have a site without search either.

Krug also points out that even though designers lean toward the more subtle and sophisticated, web uses generally miss subtle cues. Instead cues need to stand out. The relationship of page names as street signs includes points along these lines such as every page should have a name not just highlighted navigation. Likewise due to color-blindness and lack of observance by users in general, color should not be used as the only clue. As a visual designer, these points are very helpful when planning user-centered designs and considering usage habits.

Reading:

Street Signs and Breadcrumbs By Steve Krug (Chapter 6 from Don't Make Me Think! A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability)

[olintino-blog]

About "Usability Principles for Modern Websites"

As designers, we sometimes are design-oriented over user-oriented. This article discusses the downfall of that focus especially in regard to website design. As a web user, designer, and project manager, I am inclined to agree. In each of these roles, I experience the challenges of designs that consider user expectations after a finished product is launched. Just as the article says - As a web user, I will move if I cannot easily and effectively accomplish my goals. As a designer and project manager, I spend more time, money, and frustration making corrections post-launch. “Test early, test often” should be the mantra of many.

Of course the chapter also points to specific ways to improve overall functionality and user experience. I found the notes on navigation particularly helpful as related to my work. The site I work for is currently struggling with contextual navigation, in particular long drop-down menus. As our content grows, navigation requires upgrades. I found some of the suggestions given to be interesting possible solutions. The mega-drop down option, as shown in the EA.com and Porsche examples, offers an option we have not fully explored. This would be a straightforward redesign of a common navigation element. I found the reading helpful if for no other reason than the brainstorming it encouraged.

I take issue with one point. The authors write, “nobody likes to fill in forms…” I may be the only person out there, but I truly enjoy filling in tiny little boxes with information. :)

Reading:

Usability Principles for Modern Websites By Andrew Maier and David Leggett (excerpt from The Smashing Book 1)