Usability Design of Software Applications PDF

Usability Design of Software Applications Aritra Ghosh Assistant Professor Sister Nivedita University  Introduction to User Centered Design, Aspects of User Centered Design Product Appreciation Assignment – Evaluating the product from use...

Usability Design of Software Applications Aritra Ghosh Assistant Professor Sister Nivedita University  Introduction to User Centered Design, Aspects of User Centered Design Product Appreciation Assignment – Evaluating the product from user centered design aspects such as functionality, ease of use, ergonomics, aesthetics. 1 2 3 4 Usability User Centred Heuristic Case study Design Evaluation  Introduction The term "usability" in the context of creating software represents an approach that puts the user, instead of the system, at the center of the process. This philosophy, known as user-centered design, incorporates user concerns and advocacy from the beginning of the design process and dictates that the needs of the user should be that most important of any design decisions. Source: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/appuistart/usability-in-software-design  Usability Usability is a measure of how easy it is to use a product to perform prescribed tasks. This is distinct from the related concepts of utility and likeability. Source: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/appuistart/usability-in-software-design Case study 1 Estimated Cost: 800/- Plan to celebrate your friend’s 21 birthday. (include decoration and cake for 15-20 guest)  Usability vs. Utility Utility refers to the ability of the product to perform a task or tasks. The more tasks the product is designed to perform, the more utility it has. Usability testing helps you determine how easy it is for users to perform particular tasks. However, it does not directly help you determine if the product itself has value or utility. (Users may volunteer utility-related comments during usability testing, but any comments should be verified with other, more robust research method) Source: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/appuistart/usability-in-software-design  What is User Centred Design? The User-centered design (UCD) process outlines the phases throughout a design and development life-cycle all while focusing on gaining a deep understanding of who will be using the product. The international standard 13407 :1999 is the basis for many UCD methodologies. It’s important to note that the UCD process does not specify exact methods for each phase. Source: https://www.usability.gov/what-and-why/user-centered-design.html Case study 2 Estimated guest: 1200 Location: 2000 sqrft Counters: Veg, Non-veg, Bar, Snacks, Refreshment etc. Design a well-mannered protocol to governors the guest properly within standard dinner time.  Benefits of User-Centered Design Digital Projects are an Investment: According to the IEEE 2005 research, roughly $1 trillion a year was spent on IT worldwide, with the U.S. government spending more than $60 billion on its roughly 1,200 civilian IT projects and an additional $16 billion on military IT Avoiding Common Mistakes: By building a skilled team and following the best practices outlined on this site, you can avoid several of the top 12 reasons IEEE identified for why IT projects fail: Unrealistic or unarticulated Poor communication among customers, project goals developers, and users Inaccurate estimates of needed Use of immature technology resources Inability to handle the project's Badly defined system complexity requirements Sloppy development practices Poor reporting of the project's Poor project management status Stakeholder politics Unmanaged risks Commercial pressures Source: https://www.usability.gov/what-and-why/benefits-of-ucd.html Evaluating the product from UCD Software Product Evaluation: Quality Characteristics and Guidelines for their Use  Evaluating the product from UCD Software product evaluation for Security System Case study 3 Sunflower farming Objective: enhance your business based on customer’s demand Write 5-10 unique utilities except basic use (i.e. oil) Case study 4 Write down 15 unique utilities of this.  Discussion 1. One of regular clients was very anxious about meeting the project deadline. He depended on his investors and was afraid that a project wouldn’t be finished on time. Regular monitoring and close cooperation with a development team. 2. One customer ‘aka product’ owner applied for the development of a new app version for iTunes and Play market. Large number of user reviews, the business analyst managed to define user requirements  User Interface Design User interface (UI) design is the process designers use to build interfaces in software or computerized devices, focusing on looks or style. Designers aim to create interfaces which users find easy to use and pleasurable. UI design refers to graphical user interfaces and other forms—e.g., voice-controlled interfaces.  Users Graphical user interfaces (GUIs)—Users interact with visual representations on digital control panels. A computer’s desktop is a GUI. Voice-controlled interfaces (VUIs)—Users interact with these through their voices. Most smart assistants—e.g., iPhone and Alexa on Amazon devices—are VUIs. Gesture-based interfaces—Users engage with 3D design spaces through bodily motions: e.g., in virtual reality (VR) games.  User Experience (UX) Design User experience (UX) design is the process design teams use to create products that provide meaningful and relevant experiences to users. This involves the design of the entire process of acquiring and integrating the product, including aspects of branding, design, usability and function. UX Designers consider the Why, What and How of Product Use  Elements of User Experience Core areas of the user experience include (Usability, 2014): Usability Useful content Desirable/Pleasurable Content Accessibility Credibility  Usability: A part of the User Experience “Usability” refers to the ease of access and/or use of a product or website. It’s a sub-discipline of user experience design. Although user experience design (UX Design) and usability were once used interchangeably, we must now understand that usability provides an important contribution to UX; however, it’s not the whole of the experience. We can accurately measure usability.  Case study 5 https://in.indeed.com/ https://www.freshersworld.com/ Identify 12 features which are not present and should https://allgovernmentjobs.in/ be improved the quality of these websites. https://www.jobsarkari.com/ https://www.naukri.com/ https://www.shine.com/ Usability Elements  Heuristic Evaluation Heuristic evaluation is a process where experts use rules of thumb to measure the usability of user interfaces in independent walkthroughs and report issues. Evaluators use established heuristics (e.g., Nielsen- Molich’s) and reveal insights that can help design teams enhance product usability from early in development. Source: https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/topics/heuristic-evaluation  Nielsen and Molich's 10 User Interface Design Heuristics Jakob Nielsen, a renowned web usability consultant and partner in the Nielsen Norman Group, and Rolf Molich, another prominent usability expert, established a list of ten user interface design guidelines in the 1990s. These heuristics have been reflected in many of the products designed by some of the most successful companies in the world such as Apple, Google, and Adobe. Note that there is considerable overlap between Nielsen and Molich's heuristics and Ben Shneiderman’s 'eight golden rules'. These 10 rules of thumb further iterate upon Shneiderman’s ideas 4 years after his initial publication.  Nielsen and Molich's 10 User Interface Design Heuristics Visibility of system status. Match between system and the real world. User control and freedom. Consistency and standards. Error prevention. Recognition rather than recall. Flexibility and efficiency of use. Aesthetic and minimalist design. Help users recognize, diagnose and recover from errors. Help and documentation.  Case study 6 http://rrgu.org/ https://www.skbu.ac.in/# Identify 25 features (including security issues) https://alipurduaruniversity.ac.in/ which are not present and should be improved the quality of these websites. https://www.dduniversity.in/ http://www.mguwb.org.in/ https://www.murshidabaduniversity.ac.i n/  Pros and Cons of Heuristic Evaluation Pros of Heuristic Evaluation Heuristics can help the evaluators focus their attention on certain issues Heuristic evaluation does not carry the ethical and practical issues/problems associated with inspection methods involving real users. Evaluating designs using a set of heuristics can help identify usability problems with individual elements and how they impact the overall user experience. Cons of Heuristic Evaluation Choosing appropriate heuristics is extremely important; if the wrong set of heuristics is employed, certain usability problems may be overlooked. Heuristic evaluation might be relatively time-consuming when compared to other 'quick and dirty' inspection methods, such as simple walkthroughs with a small sample of users. Training evaluators takes about a week on average, not including the time it takes to conduct the evaluations and debriefing sessions. Unlike cognitive walkthroughs, heuristic evaluation is based on preconceived notions of what makes 'good' usability. However, this need not be seen as a negative point, as heuristics are often based on the experiences of real users with hundreds of designs. Problems identified by evaluators can often be false alarms. For example, in the article ‘Usability testing vs. heuristic evaluation: A head-to-head comparison’ by Bailey et al., it was stated that 43% of 'problems' identified in three heuristic evaluations were not actually problems. Furthermore, of the usability problems recorded by the evaluators, only 33% could be classified as genuinely problematic characteristics of the designs. In addition, only 21% of genuine usability problems were identified; calling into question the strength and usefulness of findings from heuristic evaluations.  What Is User Research? User experience research is the systematic investigation of your users to gather insights that will inform the design process. With the help of various user research techniques, you’ll set out to understand your users’ needs, attitudes, pain-points, and behaviors (processes like task analyses look at how users actually navigate the product experience— not just how they should or how they say they do). Typically done at the start of a project—but also extremely valuable throughout—it encompasses different types of research methodology to gather both qualitative and quantitative data in relation to your product or service.  Purpose Of User Research The purpose of user research is to put your design project into context. It helps you understand the problem you’re trying to solve; it tells you who your users are, in what context they’ll be using your product or service, and ultimately, what they need from you, the designer! UX research ensures that you are designing with the user in mind, which is key if you want to create a successful product. Throughout the design process, your UX research will aid you in many ways. It’ll help you identify problems and challenges, validate or invalidate your assumptions, find patterns and commonalities across your target user groups, and shed plenty of light on your users’ needs, goals, and mental models.  Why Is It So Important To Conduct User Research? User research helps you to design better products! User research saves time and money! User research can be done on a budget  When To Use Different User Research Methods Qualitative Methods: Guerrilla testing: Fast and low-cost testing methods such as on the street videos, field observations, reviews of paper sketches or online tools for remote usability testing. Interviews: One on one interviews that follow a preset selection of questions prompting the user to describe their interactions, thoughts and feelings in relation to a product or service, or even the environment of the product/service. Focus groups: Participatory groups that are led through a discussion and activities to gather data on a particular product or service. If you’ve ever watched Mad Men you’ll be familiar with the ‘Ponds’ cold cream Focus Group! Field Studies: Heading into the user’s environment and observing while taking notes (and photographs or videos if possible). In-lab testing: Observations of users completing particular tasks in a controlled environment. Users are often asked to describe out loud their actions, thoughts and feelings and are videoed for later analysis Card sorting: Used to help understand Information Architecture and naming conventions better. Can be really handy to sort large amounts of content into logical groupings for users.  When To Use Different User Research Methods Quantitative Methods: User surveys: Questionnaires with a structured format, targeting your specific user personas. These can be a great way to get a large amount of data. Surveymonkey is a popular online tool. First click testing: A test set up to analyse what a user would click on first in order to complete their intended task. This can be done with paper prototypes, interactive wireframes or an existing website. Eye tracking: Measures the gaze of the eye, allowing the observer to ‘see’ what the user sees. This can be an expensive test and heatmapping is a good cheaper alternative. Heatmapping: Visual mapping of data showing how users click and scroll through your prototype or website. The most well known online tool to integrate would be Crazyegg. Web analytics: Data that is gathered from a website or prototype it is integrated with, allowing you to see demographics of users, pageviews and funnels of how users move through your site and where they drop off. The most well known online tool to integrate would be Google Analytics. A/B testing: Comparing two version of a web page to see which one converts users more. This is a great way to test button placements, colours, banners and other elements in your UI.  Research Techniques: Contextual Enquiry Contextual inquiry is a semi-structured interview method to obtain information about the context of use, where users are first asked a set of standard questions and then observed and questioned while they work in their own environments. Because users are interviewed in their own environments, the analysis data is more realistic than laboratory data. Contextual inquiry is based on a set of principles that allow it to be molded to different situations. This technique is generally used at the beginning of the design process and is good for getting rich information about work practices, the social, technical, and physical environments, and user tools. The four principles of contextual inquiry are: Focus - Plan for the inquiry, based on a clear understanding of your purpose Context - Go to the customer's workplace and watch them do their own work Partnership - Talk to customers about their work and engage them in uncovering unarticulated aspects of work Interpretation - Develop a shared understanding with the customer about the aspects of work that matter  Research Techniques: User Interviews A user interview is a UX research method during which a researcher asks one user questions about a topic of interest (e.g., use of a system, behaviors and habits) with the goal of learning about that topic. Unlike focus groups, which involve multiple users at the same time, user interviews are one-on-one sessions (although occasionally several facilitators may take turns asking questions). UX Interviews tend to be a quick and easy way to collect user data, so they are often used, especially in Lean and Agile environments. They are closely related to journalistic interviews and to the somewhat narrower and more formal HCI method called the critical incident technique, which was introduced in 1954 by John Flanagan.  Research Techniques: Competitive Analysis Competitive analysis (or competitive research) is a field of strategic research that specializes in the collection and review of information about rival firms. It's an essential tactic for finding out what your competitors are doing and what kind of threat they present to your company's success. Why is it important to research competitors Competitive research (or competitive intelligence) is a field of strategic research that specializes in the collection and analysis of information about rival firms. It's an essential tactic for finding out what your competitors are doing and what kind of threat they present to the success of your company.  Case study For a case study, these points to be highlight: 1. Name of Case: 2. Field of the case: 3. Date of Study: 4. Objective of the case study: 5. Aims of given case: 6. Properties of the case: 7. Features to improve the case: 8. Drawbacks(if any) of the case: 9. Conclusion: Online game redesign — a UX case study Uber redesign — a UX case study Redesigning the Vedantu app — a UX case study Redesigning the Tata 1mg app — a UX case study  Personas – A Simple Introduction Personas are fictional characters, which you create based upon your research to represent the different user types that might use your service, product, site, or brand in a similar way. Creating personas will help you to understand your users’ needs, experiences, behaviors and goals. Creating personas can help you step out of yourself. It can help you to recognize that different people have different needs and expectations, and it can also help you to identify with the user you’re designing for. Personas make the design task at hand less complex, they guide your ideation processes, and they can help you to achieve the goal of creating a good user experience for your target user group.  Personas in Design Thinking In the Design Thinking process, designers will often start creating personas during the second phase, the Define phase. In the Define phase, Design Thinkers synthesise their research and findings from the very first phase, the Empathise phase. Using personas is just one method, among others, that can help designers move on to the third phase, the Ideation phase. The personas will be used as a guide for ideation sessions such as Brainstorm, Worst Possible Idea and SCAMPER. 1. Goal-directed Personas 2. Role-Based Personas 3. Engaging Personas 4. Fictional Personas  Scenario Mapping: Design Ideation Using Personas In general, the word ‘scenario’ refers to a sequence of actions or events. UX professionals use scenarios in a variety of situations, the two most notable ones being usability testing (task scenarios) and ideation of new design ideas. Scenarios used for ideation are brief stories about a person using your product or service to complete a specific task. They provide your design team with useful context and common ground as it attempts to produce design solutions. The Anatomy of a Scenario Google Fit: Activity Tracking— a UX case study Redesigning the Times of India app — a UX case study  Presentation 1. Presentation of Personas for the group project 2. Design Thinking Technique 3. Discovery and brainstorming 4. Concept Development 5. Task flow detailing for the Project 6. Prototyping Techniques 7. Paper, Electronic, Prototyping Tools 8. Project Prototyping Iteration 1 9. Review and feedback Case study 1 Estimated guest: 1200 The end