Lecture 3 HCI
Lecture 3 HCI
INTERACTION
LESSON PLAN
• The first law of usability
• The second law of usability
• The third law of usability
WHAT IS USABILITY?
• Usability is when something works well
• Usability is ease of use
• Usability: the effectiveness with which users can achieve
tasks in one software environment
• Studying and improving usability is part of HCI
WHAT IS THE GOAL OF
USABILITY?
• Eliminate as many of the user’s questions as possible.
• Questions may include:
• Where am I?
• How did I get here and where can I go from here?
• What can I do here?
• Where should I begin/How do I start?
• Where did they out X?
• Why did they put X there?
• Why did they call it X?
• Can I click on that/Is that a clickable item?
• What are the most important things on this page?
WHAT IS THE FIRST
LAW OF USABILITY?
Short list of things that users shouldn’t spend their time thinking
about, like:
• Where am I?
• Where should I begin?
• Where did they put _____?
• What are the most important things on this page?
• Why did they call it that?
• Is that an ad or part of the site?
YOU CAN’T MAKE EVERYTHING
SELF-EVIDENT
WHY IS ALL OF THIS SO
IMPORTANT?
Oddly enough, not for the reason people usually cite:
SO WHY, THEN?
HOW WE REALLY USE THE
WEB
Why are things always in the last place you look for them?
Because you stop looking when you find them!
—CHILDREN’S RIDDLE
HOW WE REALLY USE THE WEB
HOW WE REALLY USE THE WEB
Why do we scan?
• We’re usually on a mission.
• We know we don’t need to read everything.
• We’re good at it.
HOW WE REALLY USE THE WEB
HOW WE REALLY USE THE WEB
Don’t get me wrong: I’m not in any way trying to discourage creativity. I love
innovative and original Web design.
HARLEM.ORG
The rule of thumb is that you can—and should—be as
creative and innovative as you want, and add as much
aesthetic appeal as you can, as long as you make sure it’s
still usable.
CONSISTENCY
“We can’t do that. It wouldn’t be consistent.”