Unit V:

Usability:

Dimensions

  Effective 
  
Efficient
  
Engaging
  
Error tolerant
 
Easy to learn

Purpose Of Usability Testing:

1. Establish communication bridge between developers and users
 
 Developer learns about user’s goals, perceptions, questions, and problems

  
User exposed to capabilities of system early on, before design is solidified
2. Evaluate a product
  
Validate design decisions
  
Identify potential problems early in design
  
Enable comparison of alternate versions of a design element
  
Assess how well user needs and expectations are met
 
Prevent embarrassment resulting from things “slipping through the cracks”
Importance of Usability Testing:
  Developers and users possess different models

  
Developer’s intuitions are not always correct
  
There is no average user
  
It’s impossible to predict usability from appearance
  
Design standards and guidelines are not sufficient
  
Informal feedback is inadequate
  
Products’ built-in pieces almost always have system-level inconsistencies
  
Problems found late more difficult and expensive to fix
  
Problems fixed during development mean reduced support costs later
 
Advantages over a competitive product can be achieved

Scope of Testing:
Types of Tests

  Exploratory Evaluations 
  
Explore prototype interface design features
  
Gather feedback on preliminary designs
  
Verify assumptions derived during requirements determination
  
Assessment Evaluations
  
Establish how well user tasks are supported
  
Determine what usability problems may exist
  
Comparative Evaluations
  
Compare two or more design alternatives
  
Validation Evaluations
 
Ascertain whether a usability objective is achieved
Prototypes:

  Vehicles for 
  
Exploration
  
Communication
  
Evaluation
  
Purpose
  
Obtain user input in design
  
Provide feedback to designers
  
Roles
  
Communication not accuracy or thoroughness
  
Enables design to be better visualized
 
Provides insights into how the software will look and work

Aids in defining tasks, their flow, the interface itself, and its screens
Kinds

  Hand sketches and scenarios 

  
Screen sketches created by hand
 
Interactive paper prototypes

Interface components constructed of common
paper technologies
  Programmed facades


  
Examples of finished dialogs and screens for some important aspects of the system
  Prototype-oriented languages

 
An example of finished dialogs and screens for some important aspects of the system
Hand Sketches and Scenarios

  Description 
  
Screen sketches created by hand
  
Focus is on design, not interface mechanics
  
A low-fidelity prototype
  
Advantages