User Centered Design - Oliver LW

Results of Website Testing

2009-05-31T07:30:00.001-07:00

Well that about sums up all the work that i did for the User Testing of the Exeter University websites. showing my preliminary mockups to my volunteers actually led to some really positive feedback! they felt that the new design made it much easier to grab the data they wanted, and removed some of the 'clutter' from the old design.

A concise record of all this will be available in the next few days in the form of a detailed report!

Oliver

New Design Specifications - Whats Available

2009-05-26T22:21:00.000-07:00

New 'Whats Available' design! although i wrote a load of twaddle on the contents section of this whats happening bit, you can see how it can be laid out. by clicking on the buttons, you can select what subjects you want to compare.

New Design Mockup - Search Bar

2009-05-25T22:10:00.000-07:00

Just a quick mockup to show how i see a predictive suggestion search toolbar working for the Exeter website.

Edit - I know that the main menu is the original style one, but im only trying to show the new search bar approach.

New Design Mockup - Main Menu

2009-05-25T16:30:00.000-07:00

The new proposed Main Menu layout. Note that the menu in the actual website would be smaller font and in a similar theme to the ones used through out the site.

Whats next and what did i surmise from testing

2009-05-23T01:19:00.000-07:00

Right well thats it for tonight. what i am planning on doing though is some basic photoshop mockups to show how the website would look with my proposed changes.

Overall, the testing went really well! each of my users ran into some kind of problem at some point, and that tells you that there is some serious Usability issues with the website. the key problems that were identified were:

Ineffective search engine
Broken Links
Non linked academic departments to the subjects/courses in question
Misleading sections titles (such as Money Matters)

Hopefully my suggestions, if implemented, would improve several of these problems. i should have the sites mock up interfaces done in the next couple of days!

New Design Specifications - Student Life

2009-05-23T00:26:00.000-07:00

After the trouble my usability testers suffered in trying to find the various acccomodation, and sports activites available to studens, it seemed the best way to solve this would be to amalgamate all these sections under one roof, student life.

Student Life now will have a 'Whats Available' section, looking at what facilities and activities are available at the different campuses, and showing them side by side so you can easily compare each site. the design i have produced allows you to look at individual sections of the student life side by side, or select multiple areas by clicking on the tabs on the left.

New Design Specifications - Search Bar

2009-05-22T22:40:00.000-07:00

The other main area that caused problems was the low effectiveness of the current websites search bar. my proposed change is to incorporate a new search technology, using predictive input to offer suggestions to the users as they type in their search criteria.

for example, beginning to type 'English', would begin to bring up search suggestions such as 'English Entry Requirements, English Language, English Literature, English Department'.

It allows users to once more, quickly navigate to where they need to get to, and prehaps clarify what it is they are looking for.

New Design Specifications - Main Screen

2009-05-22T19:15:00.001-07:00

Here is what i came up with for the new main screen menu layout:

At the top you have a rough sketch of each of the buttons. now the current design requires that you press each button, going into a sub-menu, and then having to go back to the main site if that button doesnt get you where you want. i propose to use Tabbed Sub-Menus, that drop down from a new, more concise main menu. this way you can quickly guide yourself to where you need to be. this new layout is more aimed at users looking towards studying at the university, but yet still immediatley shows where u need to be going if your looking towards the more research,commercial, or career side of Exeters facilities.

User Testing Feedback - Volunteer 3

2009-05-19T23:30:00.000-07:00

The final user brought a slightly different approach to the Exeter website testing. Following all the tasks to detail, they would try and navigate through menus if they appeared clearly obvious, and when not obvious, moved straight to the search bar. the search keywords they used actually would appear to have found the right pages containing the relevant data, but then this ran into serious errors. the pages had been re-located within the website, but the links to the new locations would just send the user back to the Studying main page. all this does is confuse and deter webpage users!

now ive gone over all the the user tests, i can start producing some new design specifications for areas of the website that could do with improving!

User Testing Feedback - Volunteer 2

2009-05-19T22:56:00.000-07:00

My second volunteer was what must be said was the most successful of my three participants in their ability to achieve the tasks set out.

Taking more time than the other two candidates, their general approach was more thorough in the way that they fully explored the page in order to find the connecting links required to get to the information they needed. That being said, tuition fees seem to be a hard thing to locate, and even when looking through all menus, could not link together fees and costings with the 'Money Matters' section of the page.

Their side commentary was also very concise, with a great deal of explanation into their thought processes, making their contribution highly valuble!

User Testing Feedback - Volunteer 1

2009-05-19T22:45:00.000-07:00

Volunteer 1 was the first of my 3 volunteers who participated in the testing of the exeter website.

most of their navigation of the website was done using the menu buttons and selections made avaiable to users, with the exception of trying to find the Uni rugby team. finding course fees was quite rapid, but the user was unable to fully complete the other task. During their test, they also left the university website accidentally for a short period of time, getting misled by the 'The Students View' button when trying to find more information on student life.

i would also like to note that in finding relevant information, most of the links that were needed were always 3 clicks away from the main page. it seems silly to put this critical information so far out of reach of the main portal into the website.

Usability Test Complete

2009-05-17T10:09:00.000-07:00

Well, alll in all, the usability test went really well. there were no hiccups to speak of, aside from a minor problem with the page view, which was accidentally 'zoomed out' when one of my test participants caught the zoom slider on the side of the wireless keyboard. at this point i came back into the test and reset the view to normal, and continued on with the testing.

The image below can show you the part of the keyboard that caused me problems during the test, although in reality this minor error did not affect the outcome of my usability testing.

Ready For Testing Tomorrow

2009-05-16T20:40:00.000-07:00

Ok, everything is ready. i have contacted my three participants, and hopefully i should be able to run the Usability Testing between 5-9pm tomorrow evening. All the questions i will pose to my test group will be the same as the ones we practiced this week, the only exception being that i have slightly altered my original script in order to make it more concise and informative for my volunteers.

Amended Moderators Script

Getting Ready For My User Test Group

2009-05-16T10:50:00.000-07:00

with the practice done, i can see how i need to be undertaking my own user testing actions. hopefully in the next couple of days i should begin testing all my voluntary participants on the Exeter Website.

now we are so close to the test, its worth giving you a bit of an idea on who my volunteers are:

Participant 1 is a seventeen year old male with an interest in further eductation

Participant 2 is a mother of several children, some of which have already gone to university

Participant 3 is a currently studying overseas student.

Luck has it that i was able to find what must be said are the three primary stakeholders in a website of this kind! anyway, the software has been installed, and the workspace is ready for use. i should have some pictures of the test enviroment to accompany in the next few days.

Practice Usability Test. - Video Uploads

2009-05-14T21:40:00.000-07:00

Hey there, just saying ive now got the video and audio from our practice usability test. because they are some pretty large files (300mb and 1.4gb) ill have to re-encode them for the web, but should have them uploaded and attached to this thread sometime tonight.

Lectures - Completed Practice Usability Test

2009-05-13T22:54:00.000-07:00

well, yesterday we completed our practice usability test. overall i would have to say that the practice test went very well. our volunteer listened to our points, and attempted to complete the tasks set in a competent manner. overall, including introduction, testing, and de-briefing time, the whole usability testing processs took just under an hour.

The interesting thing i learnt from this usablity test trial was that no matter how sure you are on the way that the user will undertake a task, they will most likely prove you wrong, and take a completely different approach!

Practice Usability Test.

2009-05-09T22:29:00.000-07:00

well its been arranged that hopefully in a weeks time we will be taking a practice run at performing a usability test.

Operated like any real usability test, we will need four pieces of documentation:

Moderators Script
Task List
Consent Form
De-Brief Questionnaire

each one of us in class will be tasked with creating one of these. i have been tasked at creating the Moderators Script.

The moderators script has to have, pretty much to the letter, the exact words that the test moderator will say to the voluntary participant before, and after they have completed the tasks set out for them. it needs to inform them of the basic task, explain the purposes of testing, indicate that refreshments are available, and that if they ever feel uncomfortable, that they can end the test at any time.
Ideally, the Moderators script should answer any questions the participants have prior to taking the test.

UCD - Test Script

2009-05-09T08:36:00.001-07:00

Here is the script that we intend to use in the test scheduled for 12th May.

Test Script

Usability Professionals Association

2009-05-08T21:30:00.000-07:00

another website i found during the course of my website is the one run by the UPA, who specialise in all things based around usability.

their website gives you tips and ideas on how to start usability testing, as well as also offering corporate services and job opportunities. a handy site. oh and it had this neat little diagram for how user centered design works, which i thought was pretty cool!

Oh and the website is:

http://www.upassoc.org/usability_resources/about_usability/what_is_ucd.html

Useit.com

2009-05-04T22:05:00.000-07:00

Just trawling around the web, i found Jacob Nielsens website. it addresses, well, pretty much EVERYTHING you ever needed to know about usability. its worth a look!

It may look bland, but its easy to use, navigate, and pull information from. it does what it should do, and does it well. the KEY to usability

http://www.useit.com/

Getting Ready for the User Testing!

2009-04-29T01:15:00.000-07:00

its now time that we started to get organised for the user testing task. i have already decided WHERE i am going to do the testing, now its just a matter of deciding what tools i am going to use to record the testing.

Screen Capture:
The most important thing to take from the user testing is footage of them actually navigating the website. this is undertaken using whats known as Screen capture, or screen recording software. originally i was intending to use a software tool known as FRAPS to capture my video, but it turns out that FRAPS is only able to capture windowed 3d footage (such as a video game) rather than the desktop as a whole. because of this i have had to move onto using Ashampoo Snap. This tool captures the desktop at full resolution, and outputs the footage into .WMV format.

Audio:
More important than a camcorder capture of the user undertaking the task, is to capture the audio. Users will explain their actions as they navigate through the website, and by capturing the audio and running alongside the screen capture footage, we will be able to see where, and to some levels, why users take certian navigation routes through the website.
Audio capture will be taken through the use of a Skype Headphone/Mic Headset, and the audio will be outputted and stored in .MP3 format.

My Paper Prototypes

2009-04-27T21:57:00.000-07:00

at home i just thought i would kick together a basic paper protoype. i decided to make a quick 3 button drop down selection interface for an online E-Commerce store.

In the first picture, you can see what each of the menus look like when fully extended (this would happen when you hover the mouse over the button) and the second image shows how a button would normally look when not hovered over (in this case the 'Console Accessories' menu is minimised)

In Lecture Paper Prototyping

2009-04-23T22:35:00.000-07:00

Today we went over how to create our own paper prototypes. it would seem that the trick with creating good paper protoypes is to create SIMPLE paper prototypes. trying to fit too much information onto one page, one menu or one form will only end up causing problems later on, and is a good way of telling you that if your finding it hard to navigate at this stage, you may run into problems when working on the real thing. I will take a shot at creating my own personal paper prototype in the next day or two, and upload it to the blog.

Paper Prototyping - Continued

2009-04-22T00:35:00.000-07:00

Just a little more on paper protoyping.

while most approaches to paper protyping rely on no more than a few bits of a4 paper and a pen, you can create quite professional paper prototypes if you just spend a little more time. this video shows how an E-Commerce website has been paper prototyped, but by printing off some simple page designs, have created a paper prototype with a proffessional finish that gives you a really good idea of what the final website should look and function like.

Paper Prototyping!

2009-04-21T23:35:00.000-07:00

Today we have been looking at some of the approaches towards initially developing User Interface designs. it looks at the starting blocks on which you develop an interface layout before you even start any hard coding.

Paper prototyping!
The idea behind paper protyping is that you can spend only minutes developing a basic user interface layout rather than spend hours working on complex computer mockups. paper prototypes can be used for every concievable kind of user interface, from computer software, to websites, to mobile/pda appications, even to kiosk and burger bar interactive menus!

Describing this in words could take a while, so why not look at videos instead :) the video below shows h0w a group of designers have quickly put together a paper protoype of a bit of PDA software that allows you to meet other university students around campus.

Usability Gantt Chart

2009-04-12T02:40:00.000-07:00

Well its a little late but i have finished putting together a basic Gantt chart for how i want to go about performing all this usablity testing.

ive broken up the overall assignment into about a dozen tasks, and spread the workload over several weeks, using lecture dates (tuesdays and thursdays) as guide markers.

User Testing - Additional Info

2009-03-23T11:28:00.000-07:00

Well, its my birthday today! so not much work is happening today!

what i can say though, is that i have decided on the location for performing the usability test. taking into account the fact i needed a quiet, relaxed enviroment for the users to perform the test, ive decided to the room i stay in as the test location.

Some details on the work area and technical specifications:

Large, well lit room
large computer desk with adjustable office seat
enough room for a camcorder and/or dictaphone, as well as the moderator without being too cramped.

Technical Specifications -
1x 19" TFT Monitor
1x Logitech Wireless Keyboard & Mouse
1x Windows XP computer.

i usually use my computer in a dual screen setup, with both the 19" monitor and my 28" tv as primary and secondary monitors, but for the purposes of the test i will remove the television to create a simple, standardised computer layout.

Thanks To The Volunteers!

2009-03-22T22:50:00.000-07:00

i would just like to say a quick thanks to the people who have agreed to be volunteers for my usablity testing session! hope to get all the testing done within the next month or so!

Yesterdays Lesson Notes

2009-03-18T15:40:00.000-07:00

Not much to add today, just some additional key notes learned in lesson today:

Testing People - Things To Consider

When put in a test enviroment, users will feel under pressure to perform, especially as they know they are being measured.

Users will make errors

It is key to make sure users feel as comfortable as possible

Make it clear it is the system were "measuring" not them ( subjects, Participants, Test user)

All test particupants are anonymous. their information will not be revealed to other parties, and only information relevant to the test will be recorded.

Participants must know that if they so wish, they are free to leave the test at any time.

Try to keep any direct observation of the users to a minimum to reduce their stress.

Ensure you answer all their questions before you start

Use the first test as a simple way of letting them get to grip with the system.

Offering some form of light snacks and refreshment can go ways towards keeping participants happy and comfortable

Make sure all components of the test are ready before you start (Screen Recording device, computer, recording devices, relevant handouts)

Keep distractions to a minimum. Make sure all mobile phones are off, and a sign is put on the door to reduce the chance of any interruptions.

Usability Test - Requirements

Suitable, comfortable, quiet work enviroment

Computer with internet access and screen capture software

Video Recorder/ Audio Recorder

Refreshments

Handouts:
Questionnaire
Moderators Script
Task Problem Sheet
Consent Form
Background Questionnaire

Notes From Class - Thursdays Lesson

2009-03-13T10:15:00.000-07:00

Heres a quick scan in of some of the work we have been doing in class.
A lot of our work based on the work of Jacob Nielsen, one of the worlds foremost Usability Testing gurus. The frameworks that he has established have defined the way that a lot of usabilty testing is run.

This first scan looks at the ethical considerations undertaken during Usability Engineering. in short, it looks at what you need to consider before, during, and after the test in order to keep your test participants calm and focused, in order to generate useable data from the test situation.

This second scan looks at the '10 Heuristics of Usablity Testing' which basically states key principles that you need to consider when designing any form of user interface.

Test Participant Questions.

2009-03-13T01:05:00.000-07:00

After running through what each of the websites possible users would be after from the Exeter University website, i have produced a shortlist of the potential tasks we would want to ask of our test participants:

1 Task focused towards finding information related to Entrance Requirements

1 Task focused on finding information about the local Student Life

1 Task based around finding the annual Course Fees for studying at Exeter University

1 Task based around finding what is the avalible Accommodation on offer at the University

1 Final more complex task based around finding if it is possible to join the Uni Rugby Team

For the benefit of us running the User Testing sessions, and the participants themselves, the tasks we have set should not take any longer than 5 minutes to complete individually, and the overall time to complete all tasks should run no longer than 25 mins.

User Testing - Developing User Testing Taskt

2009-03-11T09:45:00.000-07:00

With the website and assignment set, we now need to come up with the tasks that we want our users to achieve.

Its important that the tasks we ask our users to do are realistic when taking into account the websites task. in order to do this, we need to be looking at the Stakeholders of the website.

while the website has a lot of different visitors, there are prehaps three or four main groups that the website aims at giving information to:

Prospective Students

Parents

Overseas Students.

Prospective students obviously want to know if the course they are investigating is available at the university. they are going to be focused towards finding out relevant course details, and prehaps more detailed information about various course information.

Parents, like students, are also going to be interested in course details. Their other considerations are likley to be secondary study factors, such as financial and accommodation matters.

Overseas Students are going to be considering all the above factors and more, as they have a number of specifics in relation to financial and/or accomodation matters. Whatsmore, there is a chance that English is a second language to these potential students, and so it is even more important that information is displayed clearly as to avoid confusion.

Taking these three key stakeholders into account, its possible to go on and develop questions for potential canditates, and i should have these produced in the next few days.

User Centered Design - Assignment Outline

2009-03-07T07:39:00.000-08:00

Well now that i have the blog and running, its time to start explaining what my task is going to be. ive already said that we are looking at improving the usability of the Exeter University website, and now i can explain in a little more detail what we plan to do.

We are going to hopefully test an number of willing participants on their ability to navigate and gather information from the Exeter university website. by understanding the ways in which our test subjects go about this task will allow us to move towards developing the website in a more user accessable way.

Oliver

Start Of Blog!

2009-03-02T23:28:00.000-08:00

Hey there,
this blog should show the development made towards user centered design, focusing around work looking at the Exeter University website, and ways that usability for the site could be improved.

Oliver.