Live Usability LabLive Usability LabELUNA 2008: Long Beach CaliforniaELUNA 2008: Long Beach California

Stephanie Willen Brown Electronic Resources LibrarianUniversity of Connecticut Libraries

Susan Teague-Rector Web Applications Manager Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries

Ever had a bad Ever had a bad experience with experience with a a product or product or Web siteWeb site and and wished you wished you could change could change the the designdesign? ?

AgendaAgenda

– IntroductionIntroduction– UX & Usability in a NutshellUX & Usability in a Nutshell– Usability @ 90mphUsability @ 90mph

Based on Marty, Paul F. and Michael Twidale, “Usability@90mph: Presenting and Evaluating a New, High-Speed Method for Demonstrating User Testing in Front of an Audience.” FirstMonday. July, 2005: http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue10_7/marty/

– Discussion Discussion

I need to find information on I need to find information on diabetes. What’s the first diabetes. What’s the first thing you see and where thing you see and where would you go to find an would you go to find an article?article?

Users & AudiencesUsers & Audiences

University of Texas at Austin Libraries: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/

WebMD. http://www.webmd.com/

A Few DefinitionsA Few DefinitionsUser ExperienceUser Experience

Armano, D. Holy Trinity of Digital Experience Design.http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/2006/06/holy_trinity_of.html

The Elements of User ExperienceThe Elements of User Experience

Morville, P. The User Experience Honeycomb

Encompasses the entire Encompasses the entire spectrum of a user’s spectrum of a user’s interaction with a interaction with a system..system..

It looks great, but…can you use it?It looks great, but…can you use it?

Adams, S. Dilbert. Available: http://web.mit.edu/is/usability/IAP/2003/Session1/Images/Easy-to-use.gif

Usability ToolboxUsability Toolbox

Chisnell, D. and J. Rubin. (2008). Handbook of Usability Testing: How to Plan, Design and Conduct Effective Tests. Beyer, H. and K. Holtzblatt. (1997). Contextual Design: Defining Customer-Centered Systems).Tools and techniques for designing and testing content. http://userpathways.com/category/user-experience/

User analysis

Personas/User Stories

Contextual inquiry

Ethnographic Research

ExplorationExploration

Task-based testing

Heuristic Evaluation

Eye-tracking studies

Think-aloud

AssessmentAssessment

Goals & Benefits of User TestingGoals & Benefits of User Testing

• Learnability• Efficiency• Memorability• Error recovery• Satisfaction

Nielsen, J. (2003). Usability 101: Introduction to Usability. http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20030825.html

When to TestWhen to Test

““If usability engineering is If usability engineering is indeed a panacea, it's sort indeed a panacea, it's sort of like a cycle of antibiotics of like a cycle of antibiotics for an infection that will for an infection that will never go away….never go away….

Making services more Making services more usable is an endless circle of usable is an endless circle of trial, error, success, and trial, error, success, and feedback.”feedback.”

Pace, A. (2003). The Usability Toolbox. Information Today.http://www.infotoday.com/cilmag/jan03/pace.shtml

Live Usability Lab!

We need Volunteers!

SFX & the Research ProcessSFX & the Research Process

• Assignment: write paper on diabetes. Process?1. Search Medline2. Identify useful article(s)3. Find the article(s)4. Read article(s)5. Write paper

• SFX goal: simplify the process of stage 3• What are the possibilities in “Find the

article(s)”?!

Possibilities for PatronPossibilities for Patron

• Get the full-text – Find it online (library has online)– Find it in the catalog (library has in print)– Request through Interlibrary Loan

• Other services– Get persistent URL of SFX menu– Export to RefWorks– Get help– Report a problem

Get it @ VCU: full-text & no full-text Get it @ VCU: full-text & no full-text

Full-text online!

Full-text not online

UConn Links: full-text & no full-text UConn Links: full-text & no full-text

Full-text online!

Full-text not online

Usability TestUsability Test

Why Should We Care About UX?Why Should We Care About UX?

““In a very real sense, In a very real sense, your your productproduct is the embodiment is the embodiment of your business [library] for of your business [library] for the customer. For the customer. For customerscustomers to feel they have a good to feel they have a good relationshiprelationship with your with your business [library] , they must business [library] , they must first feel they have a good first feel they have a good relationship with the productrelationship with the product—and —and that begins with the that begins with the user experience.”user experience.”

Garrett, J.J. Customer Loyalty and the Elements of User Experience

http://www.projectcartoon.com/

Meet the User NeedsMeet the User Needs

Parting thoughts from David Armano’s Blog, Parting thoughts from David Armano’s Blog, Logic+Emotion:Logic+Emotion:

Imagine if you couldn't figure out how to upload videos on YouTubeImagine if you couldn't figure out how to upload videos on YouTube

Imagine if Google seemed too complexImagine if Google seemed too complex

Imagine if using Tivo was as hard as using your VCRImagine if using Tivo was as hard as using your VCR

Imagine if your iPod intimidated youImagine if your iPod intimidated you

Imagine if the buttons on your mobile device didn't workImagine if the buttons on your mobile device didn't work

Imagine if running a blog was only for techiesImagine if running a blog was only for techies

Imagine if your bank teller was faster than your ATMImagine if your bank teller was faster than your ATM

Imagine if del.icio.us wasn'tImagine if del.icio.us wasn't

Imagine if all agencies and our clients took usability seriously?Imagine if all agencies and our clients took usability seriously?

I Love U-sers, David Armano: http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/usability/index.html

Parting thoughts from David Armano’s Blog, Parting thoughts from David Armano’s Blog, Logic+Emotion:Logic+Emotion:

I Love U-sers, David Armano: http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/usability/index.html

A A [library web][library web] product, product, [library][library]

service or brand experience service or brand experience that that isn't usable is like a barking isn't usable is like a barking dog without teeth.  All bark, dog without teeth.  All bark, no bite and highly annoying.no bite and highly annoying.

Live Usability LabLive Usability Lab

• Live Usability Lab based on Marty, Paul F. and Michael Twidale, “Usability@90mph: Presenting and Evaluating a New, High-Speed Method for Demonstrating User Testing in Front of an Audience.” FirstMonday. July, 2005: http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue10_7/marty/

UX & Usability Information, IUX & Usability Information, IFor Starters

– User Experience Network (http://uxnet.org)– User Experience Design (http://semanticstudios.com)– UXMatters (http://www.uxmatters.com) – Garret, J. J. The Elements of User Experience  User-Centered

Design for the Web– Krug, S. Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to

Web Usability– Morville, P. Ambient Findability: What We Find Changes Who

We Become– Nielsen, J. Designing Web Usability– Normal, D. The Design of Everyday Things– Tidwell, J. Designing Interfaces: Patterns for Effective

Interaction Design

Noteworthy Blogs– Designing Better Libraries (http://dbl.lishost.org/blog/) – User Pathways (http://userpathways.com/) – Adaptive Path (http://www.adaptivepath.com/blog/)

UX & Usability Information, IIUX & Usability Information, II

Professional Organizations

User Experience Networkhttp://uxnet.org

Information Architecture Institutehttp://iainstitute.org/

ASIST - Information Architecture SIGhttp://www.asis.org/SIG/ia.html

Usability Professionals Associationhttp://www.usabilityprofessionals.org

Interaction Design Associationhttp://ixda.org/

Special Interest Group on Computer Human Interaction (Association for Computing Machinery)http://sigchi.org/