Why is Usability Important?

Usability has shifted from loose practices to an engineering discipline involving empirical methods and grounded in scientific theory. Companies now hire teams of professional experienced in psychology, human –computer interaction and human factors.

In websites, leaving is the first option when a user encounters difficulty. If they can’t find it, they will leave. Even tests that don’t seem significant should be done because it improves the quality of decision significantly especially where you have an alternative of two interfaces, if testing is done it will improve decision making process.

Careful methods are normally expensive in terms of expertise and money therefore simpler methods stand a better chance of actually being used in practical design. This method known as discount usability engineering [Nielsen 1989b, 1990a, 1993] is based on the following techniques; scenarios, simplified thinking aloud and Heuristic evaluation.

 What you will learn

1. Scenarios

The main aim of scenario is to reduce complexity of the implementation by eliminating part of the full system. Since scenarios are small and easy to implement, they form a better method of getting user feedback because they can be changed frequently. Scenarios can be implemented as paper mock –ups

2. Simplified Thinking Aloud

This is effectively done by interface designers and psychologists, it involves bringing in real users, giving them test tasks and asking them to think aloud while performing tasks.
Data analysis can be performed from notes taken by the experimenter, in traditional thinking a loud, this is normally done by video recording, video recording and analysis. This takes a lot of time, which should be spent on iterations between interfaces to improve it.

3. Heuristic Evaluation

These are rules and guidelines to follow in order to make the product more usable.

• Web Designers
• Human Computer Interface Designers 
• Company Owners
• Marketing Professionals

Lab Session

Usability engineering of sample websites

Duration: 4 hours (Basic, Beginners), 6 hours (Intensive)

Individuals

£299 (Basic)

£399 (Intensive)

Companies

£660 per delegate