Designing Usable Systems
(Methods for Evaluating and Usability Testing of Software Systems)

Background
Functional testing is a standard activity in all product development. While functional testing is an essential step in delivering a working product, it does not address the usability performance of it. The overall usability of the product is what the user actually experiences. All leading companies in software development see product usability as a competitive advantage. Studies have shown that these companies invest approximately 6% of product development cost in usability. The importance of usability in Europe is emphasized by recent EU legislation that requires software be easy to use and comply with ergonomic design standards.

What is Usability?
The usability of a product is much more than just ease-of-use. It is defined as the effectiveness and efficiency and user satisfaction of the product. It is requires that the product is effective in that it solves problems as defined by the user. It must also solve these problems in an efficient manner. Finally, the experience the user has in using the system must be satisfying to them. To design a system that has an acceptable level of usability, then we must have a thorough understanding of the types of users, the tasks they perform and the environment within which they work.

For most people, the usability of the system is all that matters to them. They are not interested in how the system actually works, but how can they use it quickly to solve their problems. For many products, usability is becoming a competitive advantage. In addition, addressing usability appropriately within the development process is cost effective. Delivering products that are considered highly usable can help establish a strong market advantage.

What are the benefits of formally addressing product usability?
The benefits of addressing product usability appropriately are as follows:

• Reduce development costs by identifying design problems early in the development cycle
• Ensure the system meets the users needs and expectations in terms of usability performance
• Reduce training and maintenance costs by providing systems that are easy to use and easy to learn.
• Ensures compliance with international standards and guidelines
• Helps develop a positive market perception of your products.
• Improves safety in critical systems

How do we achieve these benefits?
These benefits are achieved as follows:

• Cost reductions are achieved by identifying design problems earlier in the development cycle. For example fixing a design problem at the concept development stage is up to 500 times less than fixing the same problem during field trials.
• By involving users in the evaluation and testing of design concepts and prototypes at appropriate times throughout the development cycle, we identify their usability performance preferences and expectations and can modify the design accordingly.
• Because users have been involved in the evaluation and testing of the system, we can identify those aspects of the system that are core to its success in terms of usability and we can then focus design efforts to ensure it is easy to use and easy to learn.
• By conducting expert evaluation of your system we can validate it for compliance with international ergonomic design standards.

How can Insight help you?
We can help you develop highly usable Software Applications, Multimedia and Web-based systems by:

• Providing practical assistance in implementing a user-driven design process
• Providing advice on user interface design and specification
• Conducting an evaluation of you system's user interface for compliance with ergonomic standards
• Conducting usability testing of prototypes and pre-release systems.
• Providing training on software usability testing - see course details: Software Usability - Designing Usable Systems
  

Software Usability - Designing more Usable Systems (Usability Evaluation and Testing Methods)

Software Usability - Designing more Usable Systems
(Usability Evaluation and Testing Methods)

Background
If the usability of the system is what most people experience then it makes sense that usability can be designed in to the system, and measured before release to the customer. The usability testing of a product or prototype versions of it with actual users ensures that it is being designed to meet their needs. If usability testing is used throughout the designed process, it can help identify the good and bad design features and with recommendations for improvement. Testing prototypes of the system can help identify design problems early in the development cycle and reduce the costs of implementing design changes. Usability testing can be carried out on existing systems to help identify new design requirements. Competitive products can be evaluated to determine requirements for market leadership. Usability testing can be performed throughout the development cycle using paper prototypes, rapid high fidelity prototypes and final system.

Course Outline
This one-day workshop will address the methods used for performing usability evaluation and testing of software systems.

The workshop will provide a thorough understanding how to apply key design guidelines to improve the usability of your user interface. It will include practical sessions, which will allow participants to gain experience in evaluating user interfaces and testing of icons and product usability.

At the end of this workshop you will be able to:

• Define the usability goals of your product
• Understand the key characteristics of user interface design
• Understand the usability characteristics that can be measured
• Use paper prototypes to test the usability of design concepts
• Conduct usability testing of Icons to improve comprehension

Who should attend?
The workshop is aimed at Project Managers, Team Leader, Systems Analysts and Designers and Systems Quality personnel. Other staff who will be involved in the design and testing of the product will also benefit from attendance.

Workshop topics

• What is usability?
• What usability characteristics should be measured?
• Using walkthrough evaluation to measure quality of design
• Using observation usability testing techniques
• Review of other methods for verifying system usability
• Overview of the key principle of user interface design
• Developing a usability evaluation specification Exercises
• Testing the comprehension of Icons, menu labelling and structures
• Conducting a walkthrough evaluation of a prototype
• Usability testing a prototype