Evaluating User Interfaces
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The document discusses user interface evaluation using Nielsen's heuristic principles and emphasizes the importance of DIY methods for testing functionality. It outlines qualitative and quantitative evaluation techniques, highlights the ten usability heuristics, and provides guidelines for evaluating system interfaces effectively. The key heuristics focus on aspects such as system visibility, user control, recognition, consistency, flexibility, error prevention, and documentation.
Evaluating User Interfaces
- 1. Evaluate User Interfaces with Nielsen’s Heuristic Principles
- 2. Why do we need DIY methods? The same reason why we test our systems for functionality, before giving it out for use.
- 3. Qualitative Methods ● Cognitive Walkthrough ● Expert Evaluation ● Heuristic Evaluation Quantitative Methods ● KLM, GOMS and other formal analysis ● Informal Action Analysis
- 4. Heuristic Evaluation Latest version is 1995a listed here: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/ten-usabilit y-heuristics/
- 5. Evaluation Plan Examine ● Get trained ● Each heuristic expert will evaluate List ● Individually list down problems found based on 10 principles of heuristic evaluation Collate ● Club all problems of all evaluators in a caveat ● Rank on the basis of severity Fix ● You’re already an expert on that!
- 6. Heuristic ~ Dictionary meaning Enabling a person to discover or learn something for themselves: a “hands-on” or interactive heuristic approach to learning.
- 7. # 1 Visibility of System Status The system should always keep users informed about what is going on, through appropriate feedback within reasonable time.
- 11. Which is the most important status we want to know these days?!
- 13. ● Browser/App/Program name ● Favicon ● Logo ● Page heading ● Section heading ● Selected Tab ● Progress bar ● Loader ● Micro interactions ● Click/Hover/Any event Interaction ● Updated information
- 14. # 2 User control and freedom Users often choose system functions by mistake and will need a clearly marked "emergency exit" to leave the unwanted state without having to go through an extended dialogue. Support undo and redo.
- 20. ● Undo ● Redo Violation: Android design copied for iOS violates this heuristic
- 21. # 3 Recognition rather than recall Minimize the user's memory load by making objects, actions, and options visible. The user should not have to remember information from one part of the dialogue to another. Instructions for use of the system should be visible or easily retrievable whenever appropriate.
- 24. ● Recents ● Browsing History ● Visited Links
- 25. # 4 Match between system & the real world The system should speak the users' language, with words, phrases and concepts familiar to the user, rather than system-oriented terms. Follow real-world conventions, making information appear in a natural and logical order.
- 29. # 5 Consistency and standards Users should not have to wonder whether different words, situations, or actions mean the same thing.
- 36. Consistency and standards not just applies to customer facing interfaces
- 37. # 6 Flexibility and Ease of Use “Accelerators” — unseen by the novice user — may often speed up the interaction for the expert user such that the system can cater to both inexperienced and experienced users. Allow users to tailor frequent actions.
- 41. ● Keyboard actions/shortcuts ● Touch/Trackpad/Mouse Gestures ● Autofills ● Save information
- 42. # 7 Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors Error messages should be expressed in plain language (no codes), precisely indicate the problem, and constructively suggest a solution.
- 44. Properties of error messages: ● Explicit ● Human Readable Language ● Precise ● Constructive ● Polite
- 45. # 8 Error prevention Even better than good error messages is a careful design which prevents a problem from occurring in the first place. Either eliminate error-prone conditions or check for them and present users with a confirmation option before they commit to the action.
- 47. Think of violation that happened last week (hint: emails)
- 48. # 9 Help and documentation Even though it is better if the system can be used without documentation, it may be necessary to provide help and documentation. Any such information should be easy to search, focused on the user's task, list concrete steps to be carried out, and not be too large.
- 49. Type-1: Detailed documentation Type-2: Community centres Type-3: Question and Answers examples normal chat, chat-bots There are product companies based on Help & Documentation provide integrations for example StackExchange, ZenDesk, BotsCrew, Haptik This is a screenshot from Clevertap
- 50. # 10 Aesthetic and minimalist design Dialogues should not contain information which is irrelevant or rarely needed. Every extra unit of information in a dialogue competes with the relevant units of information and diminishes their relative visibility.
- 53. Severity Rating Ranges from 0-4 0 - I don’t agree that this is a Usability Problem at all 1 - Cosmetic Problem. Fix it only if we have extra time 2 - Minor usability problem 3 - Major usability problem 4 - Usability Catastrophe
- 54. Tips ● Go through the interface back and forth 2-3 times then start evaluating. ● Don’t perform the real task, explore! ● Open google doc, for each problem write: a. Problem details b. Screenshot/Video/GIF c. Severity rating d. Heuristic e. Why does that heuristic apply
- 55. Let’s discuss...