Today’s healthcare industry has become increasingly reliant on technology and medical software. While medical software has come a long way in recent years, it can still cause difficulty or confusion for many of its users. In addition, the wide variety of people using the software tools (doctors, nurses, patients, administrative staff, people with disabilities, etc.) makes it even more important for the design of a great user experience (UX, an acronym for user experience) in medical software. In this article, we will discuss tips for building great UX into medical software for the healthcare industry, along with UX research methods that can achieve big results.

Medical Software Accessibility & UI Testing

A wide variety of users can interact with medical software: of different roles (doctors, nurses, patients, etc.), different abilities (visually or hearing impaired), and different demographics (young vs. elderly patients). For each of these types of users, medical software must be able to serve their needs, and allow each of those users to achieve their goals efficiently. As an example, an elderly patient with poor vision should be able to use a mobile application on their phone to check the results of their lab tests. In this case, the UI (user interface) of the application should make use of strong contrast and large fonts so that they can use the software. Some basic accessibility testing would reveal whether this was an issue by testing if a high-contrast mode or larger font size was easily accessible. However, this is just one instance of many. How can those designing medical software for the healthcare industry ensure that their user experience is not only up to par, but a cut above the rest?

Research has shown how good UX impacts overall user satisfaction, boosts success rates (allowing users to complete tasks and achieve their goals efficiently), while avoiding headaches caused by poor design. In critical medical situations, a good, intuitive interface on a medical device can literally save lives.

Medical Software UX: Healthcare Personas

In healthcare, a wide variety of use cases and applications exist for medical software. Some of these include medical records, medical education, mental health, practice management, sports, wellness and nutrition, pharmacy, medical billing, telemedicine, and medical devices among others. For this reason, detailed planning and persona research should be done to determine who exactly will be using the software. Personas can describe typical users of the software in an abstract manner, along with common tasks and goals they might achieve by using the software. This in turn can help guide design and make sure that common tasks are easily achievable, rather than buried in a menu somewhere that’s hard for them to find. Further, personas can guide design by describing users’ goals, tasks, capabilities, fears, and other factors that will help designers empathize with users and support their needs.

Healthcare Applications: Mobile Apps, Software UX

A contextual inquiry can help support the design of users in addition to persona research. Examining users and their behavior, in a typical setting where the software is actually used, will help designers better understand users and design for their needs. Besides the large variety of users already discussed, these users may be using the software from a medical office, an operating room, an ambulance, or from their homes. In addition, they may be using a mobile device, laptop, PC or tablet to access the software. By researching users in their actual environments of use, UX researchers can gauge how well they perform while doing typical tasks (as well as tasks that involve critical safety) to highlight areas of concern that need attention or redesign.

Common Medical Software UX Research

Overall, a wide gamut of software exists in the medical industry, and each type of use case has its own requirements for design. Reaching out to a usability research firm specializing in healthcare is a great way to get feedback on early-stage designs, prototypes, or fully-developed software and gauge its user experience. Following are some common types of UX inquiries done in the healthcare industry for medical software.

1. Contextual Inquiry / Human Interaction Points

As previously described, this type of research examines the use of medical software in its actual environment, in situations where the software is actually used. Situated Research specializes in this type of research, which aims to reduce bias from testing users in a lab or other unnatural environment. Contextual inquiry helps to add context to user behavior and support the design of software tools that are less error prone, easier to use, and intuitive.

2. Task Analysis

A task analysis helps when designing medical software to support the needs of users, such as doctors or patients, by diving into the complex tasks that they wish to accomplish. For instance, carefully watching the process of a doctor trying to take notes during a patient interview can help highlight design flaws, issues, or other significant areas that need design attention or refinement.

3. Focus Groups and Interviews

Focus groups (groups of representative users) and interviews (one-on-one questioning) can help in several ways when designing medical software and gauging its overall fit within healthcare. Early in the design process, these methods can help gather information on what needs are currently not met by existing tools, and specific features might better suit users’ needs. Later on, feedback on a prototype might be gathered during a focus group or set of interviews to better refine a product.

4. Expert Review / Heuristic Evaluation

An expert review can be conducted early or late in the design process, and involves an expert in usability doing a thorough test of the software to find both successes and failures of its design. Both the UX and UI are examined, looking at how easily information can be interpreted by users (UI) and how easily common tasks are completed (UX). Heuristics serve as a guide for the researcher, framing different components of the software to examine. For instance, one heuristic examines error prevention, such as how well users are able to avoid a mistake and recover if errors occur. Other heuristics examine the design consistency of the software, the flexibility of the design for achieving tasks, and whether the system design helps users recover from their mistakes. (Bonus points if a help system exists; more bonus points for intuitive design when users can fix their own mistakes!)

5. Information Architecture

Expert researchers can help design medical software by examining the way the software is structured from an information standpoint: looking at things like menu navigation, screen / page layout, and how difficult it is to locate common things that are used. To do this, things like labeling and organization are examined, as well as whether categories are mutually exclusive. Users should not be confused on what to click in a menu, as in cases where meaning is not properly conveyed by the choices. Methods such as card sorting can help to logically sort out information into categories that make sense.

6. Visual Design (UI) and Branding Audit

As shown in Figure 1, visual design should be carefully examined to ensure meaning is properly inferred by users while minimizing error. This audit can also examine iconography (icons in the software) to be sure that meaning is interpreted by users to the highest degree possible. Everyone has seen icons in software that are confusing, where users have ‘no idea’ what will happen when they click / press on them. These types of visual cues are examined during visual UI testing.

In the above example from UXPA, a sample glucose meter shows how medical devices can be recalled from poor visual design cues. In this case, a user glancing at the screen could incorrectly interpret the glucose reading as 22mmol/L rather than 2.2mmol/L, and think their glucose levels are 10x higher than the actual reading. A poorly emphasized decimal point in the visual design of the medical device caused it to be recalled: a very costly consequence of not thoroughly testing the device.

A range of UX activities exist to help examine the software interface (UI), from a basic visual design audit to interactive prototypes. Some of these include designing wireframes, which are simple, abstract versions of a software interface (highlighting information layout on the page / screen), and color psychology (making use of colors that add meaning by conveying the correct nature of the information).

Color psychology can also be examined during a brand audit, where branding and marketing are examined to see whether the software interface properly utilizes colors, brand language, and typography (fonts and styles) of the corporate branding to ensure good marketing efforts. Both formative and summative research can be done to test designs during development (formative) and following development as a report (summative).

7. Platform Testing and QA

Comprehensive testing of the medical software and its platform should be done before it is released to ensure both quality assurance (QA) and help eliminate problems that may arise down the road. Beyond QA, speed tests should be done to ensure that software and medical devices perform as expected, in the field, or situations where it will be used. For instance, if a mobile app is unresponsive while trying to download data over a slow connection, unintended consequences may occur. These situations should be examined, tested, and accounted for in order to provide a seamless user experience. Cross-platform testing across iOS and Android apps (for mobile applications) and desktops, tablets, or custom medical devices with embedded software should be done as well.

Besides testing, help systems, instruction manuals, customer support systems and instructional graphics should be examined to ensure that users have the support they need when problems arise. As mentioned, bonus points for those software systems that are intelligently designed to detect when users make mistakes and help them correct course, and for systems with intuitive design that help prevent mistakes in the first place.

Summary

As the healthcare industry becomes more reliant on technology and medical software, it becomes more important to incorporate usability research and testing into the design process. With a wide gamut of users (doctors, patients, administrative staff, etc.) and a wide variety of applications (medical records, education, billing, practice management, patient monitoring, etc.) in medical software, it becomes that much more important to craft a design strategy that maximizes its user experience. Whether a patient needs to check their lab diagnostics, or a medical device needs to provide life-saving information, well-designed software can literally save lives.

Research has proven that UX contributes to user satisfaction, successful products, and increased market share. These key metrics are especially important in the healthcare industry, so reach out today to discuss the best research strategy for your product.

Author: Matt Sharritt, Ph.D. (President, Situated Research)

The post Medical Software UX / UI Tips: User Experience Design for the Healthcare Industry appeared first on Situated Research.

A considerable amount of that success derives from the ongoing effort of Airbnb’s design team to create a user experience for its booking platform which surpasses that of other similar services.

Airbnb’s Landing Page (above the fold) as I am typing this

As a designer, I was always astonished of how Airbnb approaches their product design challenges and delivers a product that converts, for years now. So in this article, I’ll try to identify what makes their landing page different and why it is successful.

Visual Clarity and Minimalism

I strive for two things in design: simplicity and clarity. Great design is born of those things.” — Lindon Leader

Using colour contrast and shadows, the user interface is basically structured as two layers: The card, which contains the explanatory text and the Call-to-Action (CTA) button, forms the upper layer, while the rest of the page is perceived as the background layer.

Perceived layers of user interface

With little to no cognitive effort, users can identify the upper layer (card) as the area with which they can interact. The page as a whole does not overload the users with information, hence framing a clear interaction path for users who land on it.

Reducing the cognitive load the user needs for achieving his goals is of the utmost importance when designing for humans.

Let’s see how it compares to Booking’s landing page, in terms of visual clarity, by using predictive technology:

Measuring optical clarity of the landing pages (above the fold) for Booking.com and Airbnb via VisualEyes plugin

More clarity contributes to easier and driven scanning of information. Two metrics that can determine how an interface is efficiently designed for human interaction is Visual Complexity and Prototypicality. The conjunction of those two metrics affects the aesthetics processing of the user significantly and, thus, defines how he will interact with the interface.

More complexity requires more cognitive load. More cognitive load means less user engagement and, sequentially, less conversion and profitability.

Key Takeaway:

Airbnb has set an interaction focal point; therefore users have already determined where they will have to “lay their eyes” in order to forage information.

The Double Z-Pattern

The Z-Pattern (for people that read from left to right)

Humans have a natural reading pattern, which is applied when visual stimuli are present. Following the natural flow of eye-scanning a layout, the Z-Pattern complements better single-purpose webpages that contain only one CTA.

This specific pattern “traces” eye movement of the users, thus allowing for strategic placement of visual elements.

So, Airbnb used the Z-Pattern.

Twice.

Airbnb is setting focal points for their users, using the Z-Pattern

By utilising this layout, Airbnb’s designers achieved to establish a concise visual hierarchy. Areas of interest that convey some kind of message are pinpointed and brought up to the user’s attention. Below you can view how Airbnb’s Z-layout translates into attention heatmaps:

Attention Heatmaps generated in Figma, using the VisualEyes plugin.

Attention heatmaps suggest that the selected areas are drawing the most of the user’s attention in this particular instance.

As it is shown on the right image, the Area of Interest, in which the Card is placed, stands out three times more than the focal point of the hero image, while the CTA Button on the bottom right of the white card is almost three times more prominent than the card itself.

Key Takeaway

Airbnb augments, even more, the pre-established interaction path, by driving most of the attention to the single action -clicking the button- needed in order to “dive deeper” into their product.

Read more on the Z-Pattern here.

Priming

“Priming is a technique whereby exposure to one stimulus influences a response to a subsequent stimulus, without conscious guidance or intention.”

In other words, priming takes place when taking one’s memories or mental associations and using them to influence his future behaviour towards an upcoming matter.

The first image (Hero) someone views when interacting with Airbnb’s website

Almost all websites/products apply the “priming” effect to their audience in some way. In our case, the Airbnb landing page, visitors are subject to associative priming with the use of imagery. The design team is doing an excellent job in finding images that fit the company’s target group perfectly, so they can ensure that the desired emotions will be triggered.

Different target audiences, different hero images.

Which words pop in your mind when viewing the house on the left image? Maybe something like soothing, peaceful, refreshing, unique, care-free or even vacation-material?

Key Takeaway:

By “priming” their target audience, Airbnb’s designers use carefully-picked images to spark the emotions that could be associated with the subsequent expected experience: Staying in an awesome place for their vacation.

Read more on Priming from NN/g here.

Simple, strong and effective language

The text serves two purposes:

1. Validate the reason a user visited the website in the first place — “I’m where I was supposed to.”
2. Set a user goal — “Now I should search for places I want to visit.”

Using simple and clear language when communicating messages is essential in web design, as it establishes that your audience will not misinterpret your offering. Remember that communication is a “two-way street”:

“How well we communicate is determined not by how well we say things, but how well we are understood.” — Andrew Grove

Airbnb avoids unnecessary jargon, while choosing a set of words that their target audience will comfortably understand.

Key Takeaway:

Text content was carefully selected to disclose a specific message and the value of the product as quickly as possible, with few words in the play. All that without endangering that their audience will not understand the offering.

Conclusion

Insightful design is human-oriented and drives human actions and emotions. Airbnb’s design team found a very subtle -almost transparent- way to direct users’ actions on their website. The framing of the experience was so delicately designed that it accelerates interaction while keeping the primary user goal in mind.

Thanks for tuning in!

Written by: Thanos Dimitriou (via Medium)
Posted by: Situated Research

The post How Airbnb drives users’ actions with their landing page design — a UX analysis appeared first on Situated Research.

Infographic from: Website Magazine
Posted by: Situated Research

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Card sorting will help you to understand your users’ expectations and their mental image of your product’s use.

Card sorting allows you insight into your users’ thought processes allowing you to see why they organize content in certain ways. This is key for organizing your content and developing an intuitive structure for your product.

In-Depth Site Analysis

Card sorting exercises can help structure a website’s information, including site labels and navigation schemes. This boosts usability by making things easy to find.

Smart Design

By creating intuitive, mutually exclusive categories, your final product will be easier to use and more appealing to users with good labeling and navigation.

Work Through Discrepancies

Often, information can be organized in multiple ways. Card sorting will determine the best content structure with consensus on the most logical grouping of information.

We have helped clients early in their design process using card sorting sessions, where users are separately given cards with labels, then asked to organize them and assign category names.

Card sorting has many benefits: to learn more or get started, contact us today.

Written by: Michel Ann Sharritt, VP, Situated Research

The post What is Card Sorting? appeared first on Situated Research.

Many usability problems are quickly being addressed and fixed: for example, a recent post by Nielsen-Norman Group discussed the primary call to action (apply button) displayed below the fold, requiring users with typical screens to have to scroll down to find the apply button. As can be seen in the above screenshot, this problem has been addressed. However, the overall user-experience of shopping for health insurance is still flawed – with basic pricing information being difficult to find, and changing information as users go through the registration process. The new HealthCare.gov website highlights the difference between usability and user-experience: while usability could use improvement, the overall experience of the website is quite complicated, hindering users from shopping for insurance coverage.

The HealthCare.gov homepage has a well-designed wireframe, with clear labels and an easy to understand navigation structure. There are clear calls to action, encouraging users to apply for coverage (the ‘Apply Online’ and ‘Apply by Phone’ buttons). For users looking to explore coverage options before applying, the ‘See Plans Now’ button, circled above, helps users to see plan options before registering. However, once plan options come up, more information to discriminate amongst plans is not available:

While the site states repeatedly that costs vary depending on factors such as income level, more information on the plans could be made available under each option. As shown above, 47 options were available, with little to discriminate between plans other than price.

Application Process

The initial screen for applying looks like the following:

While the above screen is simple, with a clear call to action (clicking ‘Get Started’), the icons representing the application process are not clear. While it appears that a three step process is involved, the icons do not convey meaning to the user as to what is involved. Following, users are asked to create an account:

As shown, the account creation screen is simple (creating a username and password), but the security process complicates things. Instructions on creating a username and password require special characters for increased security, which can frustrate the registration process. Password characters are hidden as dots, making it more difficult for users to see what they are typing for a password. The process indicator (lower-left dots) are not clear at communicating where exactly the user is at while registering, either.

Over-Blown Security Wrecks User Experience

We had a test user run through the application process on HealthCare.gov, and their experience highlights problems with the website’s heightened security requirements, as well as delays from the site being unavailable or too slow:

The entire application process took about 55 minutes, longer than what I would anticipate for filling out a simple application. Why? I was asked many security questions to ensure my identity. I was first asked to make an account, which required me to answer 10 security questions. It was scary to know the amount of information they knew about me. One of the questions was, ” What was the name of the dog that you bought pet insurance for in 2010?” How would they know that? Other questions asked about information on my taxes and credit report.

Once my identity was checked I then watched the wheel of death spin and spin with a message saying that they would email me a link in order to move forward. I went to my email where I waited for about 30 minutes before I received my special link.

Once I clicked on the link I was brought back to the website and asked to login. After logging in I was then asked several more security questions in order to ensure my identity yet again. This time I was asked to set up security questions. Normally on a website security questions that you set up are suggested to you as they were here. However the types of questions set up were much more detailed then I would have liked. As an example one question was,” What is your parents current mailing address?” Another question I could set up was,” What is the VIN number to your car?” I am sure if I ever could not log into my account and the VIN question came up I would not be able to remember the answer.

I then was able to fill out the application, which took me through my personal information, tax history, current income level, and what I expect my future income to be. The application process was then completed, so I had thought. I was then asked to review my application.

During the reviewing process you were supposed to be allowed to correct any information on the application. I made several attempts to change my address. I would click on the EDIT button and it would take me to a different section of the application. I spent about 5 minutes trying the edit process but never managed to change my address. I would be brought to a different section of the application and I would have to continue from that point on filling out the entire application again.

Security is paramount on a government website handling personal information and health records; however, the amount of verification seems to hurt the user experience. As discussed, users must create an account to obtain accurate pricing information and to shop health insurance plans. Users can see a list of plan names for their area with typical pricing, but pricing is inaccurate until an application has been filled out (based upon income and other factors).

Our test user above was emailed after the application was filed, and told that they had to wait to see coverage plans until further investigation could be completed. Our user expected to be ‘rewarded’ with useful information after completing the long application process. The early stages of application on HealthCare.gov look simple, and encourage users to begin an application; however, the reality is a long process with difficulties that waste users’ time and a delayed gratification of shopping for coverage.

Technical Problems and Error Messages

As stated in the news, HealthCare.gov frequently stalled or the system went down for our test users. Below is an example, with a ridiculous ‘reference ID’ code to phone in to customer service:

While surprising for such an important website launch, heavy traffic from initial use might be partially to blame, as is the lack of testing before the site was live. From a usability standpoint, improving user workflows through the site could also yield performance increases, reducing demand on precious system resources that are being shared by so many users seeking coverage before the mandatory deadline.

We cannot imagine the costs being incurred by the number of employees required to handle the phone calls and customer service. As the saying goes, ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure‘, which certainly applies to usability research and careful planning of a website this large and important.

If you have used HealthCare.gov, please tell us about your experience by leaving a comment below.

Written & Posted by: Situated Research

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It is an honest question: how smart are your users? The answer may surprise you: it doesn’t matter. They can be geniuses or morons, but if you don’t engage their intelligence, you can’t depend on their brain power.

Far more important than their IQ (which is a questionable measure in any case) is their Effective Intelligence: the fraction of their intelligence they can (or are motivated to) apply to a task.

Take, for example, a good driver. They are a worse driver when texting or when drunk. (We don’t want to think about the drunk driver who is texting.) An extreme example you say? Perhaps, but only by degree. A person who wins a game of Scrabble one evening may be late for work because they forgot to set their alarm clock. How could the same person make such a dumb mistake? Call it concentration, or focus, we use more of our brain when engaged and need support when we are distracted.

So, what does a S.T.U.P.I.D. user look like?

Stressed

“Fear is the mind killer”, Frank Herbert wrote. Our minds are malleable and easily affected by their context. The effect of stress on the brain is well known, if not well understood. People under stress take less time to consider a decision thoroughly, and they choose from the options presented to them rather than consider alternatives. Stress is often due to social pressures. Car salespeople know to not let a customer consider an offer overnight, but pressure them to buy right away.

Tired

Tiredness is one of the largest causes of industrial and motor vehicle accidents. Interfaces used by tired people should take into account their lowered sense of self-awareness and number of details that the user is likely to miss. A classic example of an interface used by sleepy people, the iPhone alarm clock is typically set right before bed. Unfortunately, it doesn’t ring if the phone is set to vibrate, the default state for many people. When a user sets the alarm, it would be useful to override the vibrate feature, or at least remind them that it won’t ring.

Untrained

Training for enterprise applications is more often discussed then enacted. Users are thrown at an application with a manual and a Quick Reference Card. Applications that are not designed around the user’s workflow have to explain their conceptual model while they are being used: “where” things are stored, how to make changes, who to send things to.

Complex systems that are used infrequently are a particular problem. In the design of the automated external defibrillator, it is assumed the user may have no knowledge of the science or training on the device, and will be using it in a chaotic, stressful environment. The frequency of use should drive design. Yearly processes, like doing your taxes, should assume that the users have never done it before. In rarely used interfaces, customization is likely to be less useful, but a comparison to previous year’s entries is very useful as they remind the user what they did before.

Passive

More important than the user’s mental model of an application is their mental attitude toward the task. Someone sitting in the front passenger seat of a car may have the same field of view as the driver, but unless they are focused on it, they will not remember the path driven. Nothing reduces effective intelligence faster than doing a boring task against one’s will. When a user is passive, complexity becomes insurmountable. Games aimed at casual gamers know to keep the interaction model simple, using a flat navigation and avoiding “modes” (e.g. edit vs view).

Independent

User centered design is a powerful approach because it recognizes that there are many reasons people use a system. Airline booking sites are used to buy tickets, but also to see if the family can afford to go on vacation. The designer should recognize that they cannot solve every problem, but should give users the tools to help themselves, to work independently of the application’s intended method. In internal enterprise systems, the top user request is often “export to Excel”. This often reflects that the system does not meet the user’s needs. Excel empowers the user to do ‘out of the box’ actions. It is the API to the real world.

Distracted

People are multi-tasking more than ever, whether it is simply listening to music while driving or playing Farmville while watching TV. Effective multi-tasking has been shown to be a myth, but it is a popular one. Paying “partial attention” to multiple activities has significant impact to your perception of an interface. Users are often said to be on “autopilot”, clicking on things by shape, rather than reading the text. An interface cannot rely on the user having a clear and consistent working memory across multiple screens. The task and details must be re-stated at each step to remind the user the step they are on and what they need to do. Frequent, automatic saving of user entered data is essential, especially as connections can time out.

Help S.T.U.P.I.D. users by designing S.M.A.R.T.

Start-ups often experience a shock when they emerge from the hothouse of heads-down development. Their intended customers barely have time to listen to their idea, let alone devote time to explore its features. The contrast between a small group of friends working intensely together on a single project with the varied needs and limited free time of their customers can be a disheartening experience.

Projects often fail not because the idea is bad, but because the value their service will provide is not easily understood. The question I ask my team is “What problem, from the user’s point of view, are you solving?” It has to be a problem the user knows they have. If the problem is not obvious to the user, in terms they understand, the solution doesn’t matter. Focusing on the problem keeps a project from drifting into fantasy requirements: solutions looking for a problem.

Design teams often use themselves as model users, but they are almost the perfect storm of differences between themselves and the users.

• They know the product exists and what it is supposed to do.
• They understand the internal concept, including its past and future ideas.
• They care, personally, about the product. Their success depends on it.

The user has none of these things. The user knows nothing about the product, doesn’t understand the concept, and doesn’t care.

What can be done to make S.T.U.P.I.D. users S.M.A.R.T?

Simplify

Why are simple apps popular these days? It is not that people don’t like features, it’s because instant comprehensibility trumps powerful features. In the old search engine wars, Google may have had a better search algorithm, but they became known for having a simpler design. Yahoo and others tried to become portals, losing sight of the users primary goal. I advise people to “Design the mobile version first” to help them focus on the key user benefits.

The down side is that any successful project expands and adds features to address additional user needs. What starts out as “Writer for iPad” can end up as Microsoft Word. Simple is not always better, but keeping the new user in mind helps find the right balance.

Memorable

An app is only as good as the user understands it. That starts with the name – is it cute or does it explain what it does? Is it “pidg.in” or “Automatic Mailbox”? The iPhone / iPad apps’s television ads were effective sales tools, but also trained a generation by simply showing them in use. Each step of a workflow is subject to delays and distractions. Ecommerce sites know to reduce links during the final checkout process. With complex transactions, the risk is greater that the user will have lost their focus. Remind the user what they are doing in big title text. Focus on delivering Clear and Consistent messaging and instructions, for example, adding side notes like Ally.com’s password guidance.

Accept Autopilot

Standard design patterns are good, but they also throw the user into autopilot. It makes sense to break them for critical decisions. The hard part is determining what a critical decision point is. Observing user behavior, customer service records, and identifying risks to the user’s data are good clues. If something is simple enough that the users are mostly on autopilot, for example installing software, make the default action a single click.

Recovery

The dark side of users on “autopilot” is that they will regularly make mistakes by not paying attention. Mistakes are generally not obvious to a system, but it is good practice to highlight destructive actions and enable recovery. Capture data in little steps. Saving form fields instead of form pages, prevents large data loss. It’s a good idea to highlight and ask for confirmation on big, destructive changes, like deleting a database. “Undo”, common on computers, but slow to come to the web, enables the user to recover from errors.

Gmail lets users undo moving a message to the trash.

Gmail also let you restore your contacts if you accidentally make a large, destructive change.

Test in realistic situations

There is an essential flaw in the two-way mirror usability test method. In the interest of copying the form of the lab-coated scientist, these rooms create an artificial aura of “science”. But as ethnographic research can tell you, real world usage is so different as to make the test questionable. It selects for a test population that is free in the middle of the day, motivated by $50, and M&Ms, puts them in an unfamiliar environment with a personal guide to focus on a specific task with no distractions. This is about as unrealistic as it gets.

In reality, the same person may have a child on their lap and only 10 minutes to look up a flight. The fact that an ecommerce session may expire after a few hours is trivial for some, but significant for people who only have a few hours a day to use the computer. “Universal Design” is a great approach, because methods to help specific disabilities tend to be useful to the general public.

Testing should go beyond the user interface and cover the basic business model. The Apple iTunes video download “rental” is for 24 hours. Unfortunately, people tend to watch movies at the same time each day, for example, after the kids go to bed. If your kids wake up, you have to finish it earlier the next day. Would it have killed them to make the rental 27 hours, so parents could actually use it?

Design for the right level of Effective Intelligence

Effective intelligence obviously varies across situations. People are ingenious at figuring out things they really want, but the simplest task is insurmountable to the unmotivated. Both scenarios are solvable, but an application that makes the wrong assumptions about its users will fail. (Interestingly, this study suggests that easier-to-use design can affect the user’s perception of difficulty, and encourage them to complete the task.)

One should adapt their strategy to the user’s desire and the problem’s complexity. Here’s an unscientific matrix for effective intelligence with software interfaces.

This matrix compares the amount a user desires to complete the task versus the complexity of the task to that user type. Different user types will have different measures of complexity, so one might create several matrices.

Low Desire, Low Complexity – The goal here is to finish these tasks as fast as possible. Follow standard design conventions, seek to eliminate steps.

Low Desire, High Complexity Complex – Tasks that the user doesn’t want to do are a danger zone. Can the problem be reconsidered or eliminated?

High Desire, Low Complexity – The easiest quadrant.

High Desire, High Complexity – This is the most interesting quadrant. A self-training interface, (integrated help, training modules) can get the user started; they will often take it the rest of the way. Video games often have a “training” level to train the user on basic skills like moving around.

Get Smart

Effective Intelligence is a helpful concept in the design toolbox. User research and testing are the best ways to know your users, but knowing what may limit a user in reality helps design ways to make them smarter.

Written by: Stephen Turbek (via boxesandarrows blog)
Posted by: Situated Research

The post Are Your Users S.T.U.P.I.D? appeared first on Situated Research.