Usability

What’s on today???

o What is usability?
o Why is usability important?
o How measuring usability?
What is poor usability?

“I really like it,

To end-users..
but I don’t use it “It doesn’t do
much” “Can’t it be what I need it
more like to do”
Google?”
“I can’t find
what I’m
“I don’t think it
looking for”
seems trustworthy”

“It’s very fancy, “I find it a bit

but it’s not very frustrating”
useful”
What is poor usability?
What is Usability???

o “User Friendly” ???

o Is not a synonym of
usability
o Avoid this expression!
What is Usability???

o It’s not about “is this product usable?”

o But it’s about “how usable this product?”

What is Usability???
Definisi

Kemudahan yang didapat seseorang dalam

menggunakan sebuah alat atau obyek ciptaan
manusia lainnya dalam mencapai sebuah tujuan.

Derajat kemampuan sebuah perangkat lunak untuk

membantu penggunanya menyelesaikan sebuah tugas.
Tingkat produk dapat digunakan yang ditetapkan
oleh user untuk mencapai tujuan secara efektif dan
tingkat kepuasan dalam menggunakannya.
What is Usability???

o “The effectiveness, efficiency,

and satisfaction with which
specified users achieve
specified goals in particular
environments.”
o source: ISO 9241-11

o applies equally to both

hardware and software design
What is Usability???

ISO 9241-11:

o Effectiveness: The accuracy and completeness with which

specified users achieve their own goals with the system.

o Efficiency: The resources expended in relation to the accuracy

and completeness of goals achieved.

o Satisfaction: The comfort and acceptability of the system to

the users and other people affected by its use.
What is Usability???

Jacob Nielson's definition:

o Learnability: How easy is it for users to accomplish basic tasks

the first time they encounter the design?

o Efficiency: Once users have learned the design, how quickly

can they perform tasks?

o Memorability: When users return to the design after a period

of not using it, how easily can they reestablish proficiency?
What is Usability???

Jacob Nielson's Definition (cont.):

o Errors: How many errors do users make, how severe are these
errors, and how easily can they recover from the errors?

o Satisfaction: How pleasant is it to use the design?

a. Learnability
Learnability menjelaskan tingkat kemudahan pengguna
untuk memenuhi task-task dasar ketika pertama kali
mereka melihat/menggunakan hasil perancangan.

b. Efficiency
Efficiency menjelaskan tingkat kecepatan pengguna
dalam menyelesaikan task-task setelah mereka
mempelajari hasil perancangan.
c. Memorability
Memorability menjelaskan tingkat kemudahan pengguna
dalam menggunakan rancangan dengan baik, setelah
beberapa lama tidak menggunakannya.

d. Errors
Errors menjelaskan jumlah error yang dilakukan oleh
pengguna, tingkat kejengkelan terhadap error dan cara
memperbaiki error.

e. Satisfaction
Satisfaction menjelaskan tingkat kepuasan pengguna dalam
menggunakan rancangan.
What is Usability???
Attributes of usability
User as starting point
Why usability is important?

o system development is expensive, and supporting a poorly

designed user interface is even more expensive;

o users will reject or work around systems that do not meet their
needs;

o design teams need to discover all problems users have in order

to provide remedies;

o even the best designers are not representative of the users of

the system, thus teams need to understand users' perspectives
and experiences with other systems;
Why usability is important?

o usability evaluation is an inexpensive way to improve systems

before they are implemented, to improve existing systems,
and to choose usable systems;

o business users do not have a lot of time to spend learning how

to use a system;

o businesses cannot train fast enough to keep pace with attrition

and changing business rules;
Why usability is important?

o people prefer a usable system with fewer features to a system

with gratuitous "bells and whistles" which they have to work
hard at figuring out; and

o people often use systems in ways developers did not expect,

and if designers find this out, they can build these features
into a new system
Where?

o Usability testing can be done wherever it is…

o in a real work setting

o or in a usability lab
When???

o During early design stages to:

o Predict product usability
o Check design teams understanding of user requirements
o Test out ideas

o Later in design process:

o Identify user difficulties
(fine tune product)
o Improve upgrade a product
How conducting usability evaluation?

Testing -Laboratory testing

-Thinking aloud

Usability -Heuristic Evaluation

Inspection -Cognitive Walkthrough
methods

Inquiry -Focus Group

-Questionnaires
Laboratory Testing

o Defined as any of those techniques in which users interact

systematically with a product or system under controlled
conditions, to perform a goal-oriented task in an applied
scenario, and some behavioral data are collected.

o User is asked to perform task  scenario based testing

Thinking aloud

o May be the single most valuable usability engineering method.

o having an end user continuously thinking out loud while using

the system

o participants thinking aloud as they are performing a set of

specified tasks

o users are usually recorded on video

Thinking aloud
Focus Group
Planning a usability testing

o Think about why you will be doing a usability test.

o Consider the system as a whole.
o Make sure the system is ready to test.
o List several tasks that a user should be able to
accomplish with the system.
o Make a list of potential usability test subjects.
o Plan for data collection.
o Schedule the test.
o Prepare yourself to be objective.
o Don't take this "how" file with you.
Principles in testing

o Use real users

o Design real tasks

o Record and report the test

Who are the subjects tested?

o Targeted users

o Use a real user!!!

o Novice (beginner) vs expert user

o User persona
Get to know your users

o Talk to your users

o Observe your users
o Get feedback from your users
o Find out…
o Who are your users (characteristics)
o What do they do (tasks)
o Current vs. desired
o Critical vs. non-critical
o User/task matrix
o How do they do it (Task Flow)
o Where do they do it (environment)
How many subjects?
How many subjects?
Setting up usability testing
Measuring Usability
o What can be measured?
o Performance measures: Counts of actions and behaviours
you can see
o Subjective measures: People’s perceptions, opinions and
judgments
 Measuring usability
Effectiveness Efficiency User satisfaction
1. Percent task complete 1. Time to complete task 1. Rating scale for
2. Ratio of success to 2. Time to learn usefulness
failures 3. Time spent on errors 2. Rating scale for
3. Number of features satisfaction
used 3. Number of times user
express frustration
Measuring Usability
o Time
o The time taken to complete a task on a computer is an
obvious metric to choose. Whiteside et al (1985) have
proposed the following empirical relationship:
Measuring Usability

o Error Rate
o All users make errors. The number and type of errors made
during the performance of a particular task by a user is
clearly an indication of the usability of the system

o Attitude Measures
o attitude of the user of a system usually has to be found by
using questionnaires or interviews. These measures can
cover complete system use, from learnability, to ease of
use, to functionality.
Measuring Usability
In usability testing…

o Establish the context

o Ask the subject to verbalize their thoughts as they perform the

tasks on your list

o Don't help!

o Don't take it personally

o Thank the subject.

Listen and observe!

o Have fun with it!

o Enjoy being the observer.
o What does "hmm" mean?
o Take it all in, even the gaps. Notice all the sounds and behaviors
and comments that might be relevant. Remind the subject to
verbalize and be as open with their thinking as possible.
o Write everything down.
o You can translate and expand your notes later. If you are tempted
to ask the subject extra questions, make a note so that you can
bring them up later.
o Don't interfere or ask leading questions
o Do help them to feel comfortable speaking their thoughts out loud
Usability Applies to all Designs

o Norman presented
Carelman’s
coffeepot as a
metaphor for the
many objects that
we use in our daily
lives that include
fundamental design
flaws.
Usability Project

o Part 1: Proposal
o A short description of what you plan to evaluate (2-3 lines is
enough)
o Method you plan to employ
o Names of group members
o Possible subjects for your evaluation
o Usability metrics you want to measure

o Choose any software/product to evaluate as long as:

o You are at least somewhat familiar with it
o You can find at least three or more subject users who are not
experts
o You can run the “thing” in an experimental manner
o Web site? Only if it has some interesting complexity
o Device? Probably OK. Game? Probably OK. Ask me later.
Usability Project

o Part 2 - Report:
o Abstract (a short summary)
o A description of the specific software or product and its
aspects that are being evaluated.
o Be sure to what the specific goals are for your evaluation!
Just a subset of the system? Specific goals for this evaluation?
o Hypothesis  what you expect from the testing
o A summary of your procedures/methods
o When, where, how did you do your evaluation? (Only enough
detail so I can see that you followed good procedures.)
o Also, what tasks did you ask the subject to do?
o it is OK if you include copies of the task descriptions you gave
the user
o (see next page)
Usability Project

o Part 2 - Report:
o Result Revealed from the usability testing
o Result summary (time, score, etc)
o Statistical analysis (to prove your hypothesis)
o Usability Defect
o Discussion
o Conclusion
o References (please state any reference you cited—can be
book, paper, etc)