In this three part blog I shall look at context of use and context of use analysis and what part they play in successful interface design. In the first part of this blog entry I shall define context of use and why it matters for user interface design processes.

What is the “context of use”?

Context of Use is a term used in product, software and website interface design to understand the parameters and conditions by which users employ a product. In this blog I shall focus on context of use vis-à-vis the interface design of software applications and websites. Context of use is measured on many levels by situational factors that a user of a product may be in. Firstly, there are Environmental Factors such as the space, time, noise, cleanliness, and other physical conditions. Secondly, there are Organizational Factors such as work processes, organizational or social networks, and pressures related to organization and management. Thirdly, there are Broad Social Factors. These include everyday factors such as the economy, career aspirations/ interests, ethical standards and family constraints.  Further factors are the Technical/ System Factors such as network connectivity and system stability.

Why does the context of use matter when designing user interfaces?

All of the mentioned factors can contribute to the use of any product within any context (although clearly technical factors are relegated to technical contexts etc.). An example of how context of use is crucial is the One Laptop Per Child XO-1 laptop for poor children in the third world. The laptop was designed to be rugged, use low power, run Linux, be small and such other features. The context of use of this product is defined by the situation of children whose families live below the poverty line and might live in remote underdeveloped areas with sparse access to electricity. The context of use for a $5,000 gaming laptop would be different. Products are designed to be used in specific settings and contexts by users. Thus, it is important to understand what factors comprise each individual context of use because designers are then better able to understand their users, their users’ limitations, and their users’ needs. This ensures that all the factors that relate to the use of the system are accounted for and understood when designing the product and the future usability tests intended to validate the usability of a product. Just as with any other product, the context of use has a great impact on software applications and the user interface design. To give one example of how the context of use influences interface design is when software is used in a mechanical workshop setting where people quickly need to enter measurements, activities and the like. Big buttons, straightforward navigation and the like should dominate the considerations during the interface design process.

The BBC News website has long been a popular source of news on the web. A revamped interface design, the “biggest rethink of the design of the site since 2003”, has now provided the website with improvements that increase the usability of the website. This redesign is a great example of how an already great interface design can be improved upon by looking at key usability issues. It must be said that users of CNN’s website will no doubt realize that BBC’s new interface design looks a lot like cnn.com. But rather than chastise BBC’s re-designers as clueless copycats devoid of creativity I think they should be praised for sticking to great interface design and usability principles. A mistake a lot of interface designers make is in designing a work of techno-art instead of a functional website or software application. Remember that your interface design should be usable by all and sundry and not just those with degrees in computer science.

The most startling change to the BBC’s interface design is moving of the navigation from the left of the screen to the top. This decision frees up a lot of space for actual news content and makes sideways scrolling (which many users find frustrating) more redundant. Stories that are new now stand out as they are marked with a red “NEW” badge. Below the days’ main stories is a section where users can navigate stories according to geographical location. This area is differentiated from the rest of the page by using a stark color scheme that stands out from the rest of the page. Clicking on a single story, one can easily share stories via Facebook, Twitter and the like. This is possible from both the top and bottom of the story so that users who scroll all the way down to the end of a story do not have to scroll all the way back up just to share. Had that been the case then the number of stories from the BBC website being shared on social networks might be reduced. Good usability practice here as well.

Kohive, a cloud-based tool that creates an online social desktop for users to share, communicate and collaborate, recreates the interface design of a desktop computer’s graphical user interface which, being familiar to all computer users, is a unique way of engendering the learnability of the tool. It essentially allows users to create workspaces where they can invite collaborators to share a ‘Hive’. Users can then upload whatever files are pertinent to their particular hive, be they pictures for friends and family or work-in-progress for a client. Users log in to a capable browser to access an application that supports file storage and sharing, task management, note taking and instant messaging among others.

How does Kohive recreate the desktop interface design?

Although the feature-list is long, Kohive’s interface design makes it relatively easy to learn how to use the application. The interface design is made to look and operate just like a standard desktop user interface. To be precise, more like a Mac’s desktop (but I guess that might make it more appealing and usable considering the kudos the Mac OS has received over the last decade) but the concept will be fathomable to the average computer user. Furthermore it looks like the interface design of a new computer without clutter and icons on the deskspace. The sparse environment (to begin with at least) is clean, clear, and not intimidating to first-time user, therefore lowering potential usability barriers. The tool eschews the use of menubar options (those are left for manipulating the web-browser), and a replica of Mac OS X’s Dock interface design accesses the various functions of the tool. Unlike the Dock’s default setting on Mac OS X whereby it is found at the bottom of the screen, the dock on Kohive is found to the left of the interface. The bottom of the interface design is left for the different Hives a user has access to, allowing for easy and fast switching between workspaces. Hovering the mouse over the icons on the left of the interface design reveals an overlay that names the highlighted app. The familiarity of the desktop-like interface, the ease of use and the fast access to important options speak much in favour of the usability of Kohive.

Conducting usability tests is one of the central aspects of the user interface design development process, but they aren’t meant to be an esoteric ritual performed only by the interaction or web designers.    In his bi-weekly column entitled “Current Issues in Web Usability”, Jakob Nielsen points out that it is vital to have all stakeholders from all levels of management involved in the usability testing process.

Synergy in the work place

So why, exactly, should all stakeholders be involved in the usability testing process?  Wouldn’t it be easier and less stressful for the entire team if each member stuck to what they did best?  Let the usability testers test and the business managers manage, right?  Not if you view the workplace environment through the lens of synergy.  The aggregate of each constituent in a company works better when they work together towards mutually shared and understood goals.  This is only possible when a representative of each constituency is involved in each project within the company at some level, even if it is only cursorily.  Scientists have long called this best practice the multi-functional teams.

This blog post is the first in a series of two about usability and interface design

What is usability?

At its most fundamental level, usability is defined as the study of the ease with which people can achieve a particular goal by operating a human-made tool or system. The central goal of usability is to answer the following questions:

•    How well can users learn and use a system or tool to achieve a goal?

•    How satisfied are they with the process provided by the system or tool?

In computer science, these questions are kept at the forefront of user interface design during the development process in order to ensure that each user interface is characterized by optimal usability.

User interface design and usability

Usability relative to user interface design specifically focuses on evaluating how clearly and effectively a user can interact with a particular user interface. Usability.gov defines these user experience measurables as such:

•    Ease of learning – How fast can a user who has never seen the user interface before learn it sufficiently well to accomplish basic tasks?
•    Efficiency of use – Once an experienced user has learned to use the system, how fast can he or she accomplish tasks?
•    Memorability – If a user has used the system before, can he or she remember enough to use it effectively the next time or does the user have to start over again learning everything
•    Error frequency and severity – How often do users make errors while using the system, how serious are these errors, and how do users recover from these errors?
•    Subjective satisfaction – How much does the user like using the system?

In order to evaluate the above mentioned measurables usability tests can be employed by interface or interaction designers. A usability test is a technique that is used to evaluate the usability of an interface design by testing it with end users, often using wireframe prototypes before the interface design is fully implemented, in order to receive vital user experience feedback. Usability tests help interface designer not only obtain the critical usability design information they need, but also provide designers with a proven and effective process of doing so. This means that the overall interface design process will be much smoother, allowing you and your team to create an interface design with the potential to be highly successful.

This blog post is the first in a series of two about interface design centered on user experience

What is user experience?

The term user experience can be broadly applied to many fields, but within the paradigm of computer science, user experience refers to all of the user’s actions with a given interface design or system.  User experience focuses explicitly on how a person feels about using a particular user interface: what are their perceptions of the interface design’s utility, ease of use, and overall efficacy of the system?  Experientially, how do users rate and value the system and do they find using it simple and effective?  Since these questions are at the heart of user experience, it is critical to understand that user experience is not only subjective, but also dynamic—the needs and perceptions of a single user or groups of users are constantly evolving over time which means that interface designers must evolve with them.

State of mind and context: the factors that affect user experience

There are a multiplicity of factors that affect the user experience of a given interface design.  Wading through the swamp of people’s diverse needs and perceptions can leave you as a designer feeling overwhelmed.  If you want to get a solid grasp on the factors that influence user experience, try dividing user experience factors using the categories of state of mind and context:

State of mind: The state of mind refers to the user’s mental state and personal characteristics, motivations, expectations, or mood.  Basically, how will the state of mind of the user affect the way they experience and utilize a given user interface design?

Context: In addition to the user’s state of mind, it is important to grasp that context has a vital effect on the way users experience an interface design.  Context is meant to include the temporal dimension (user time constraints), the social dimension (what social factors are affecting the user’s ability to use the interface design—can they still use it easily with many people induced distractions), and the infrastructure (specifically for interface design, what type of internet connections and other systems or technical assistance are available to the user).

Context and state of mind are a simple starting point for user experience factor categorizations, but they are a good organization method, so it is worth using them if you have trouble or find yourself searching.

This blog post is the first in a series of two about user interface design.

What is user interface design?

Before we define user interface design, let’s define the basic concept of an interface. An interface is a point of interaction between two entities that are autonomous yet mutually dependent. These entities exchange information and contribute to the successful completion of a given process. Interfacial interactions are a ubiquitous phenomenon without which we could not accomplish the simplest of tasks like doing laundry or preparing meals.

User interface design (UID) is the design of computers, software, mobile devices, and machines with the central focus being the user experience and interaction between humans and these objects. User interface design’s main goal is to make these objects as intuitively usable as possible based on the needs of the user.

Why is understanding user interface design important?

As a designer, you must grasp the fundamental importance of user interface design if you want to create functional websites for your clients. An interface that is poorly designed can cost end users (and potentially your clients) time, money, and relationships.

If you are a user interface designer, here is a good motto to live by: Users are not designers and designers are not users. Understanding this core concept of user interface design is crucial because it allows you as a designer to constantly keep in mind that your product must be created to optimize usability from the perspective of the user and not from the perspective of what you as a designer find most interesting. Don’t get carried away during the design process— make sure your user interface design is always accessible to your users.

This blog post is the first in a series of two about remote usability testing as a usability method

What is usability testing?

Before I define remote usability testing, it is probably best for me to give an overview of usability testing in general. Usability testing is a usability method used to systematically observe users interacting with your product. Usability testing is very advantageous for you as a designer because it allows you to evaluate your new interface design before its completion. You are then able to make adjustments and improvements based upon user experience feedback ascertained from the usability test. This makes for a smooth interface design process, optimizing time and cost efficiency and ultimately contributing to the overall success of your project.

An example of what to analyze during a usability test is the efficiency with which users complete defined use cases. A good use case example would be the account registration process of a social network or buying an item on an e-commerce website. When usability testing this interface design feature, you can investigate the quality and efficiency of your interface design by chronicling the time spent and number of steps needed for users to complete the registration or purchasing process. This way, you can adjust your interface design during the concept phase to fit with the needs of your users and vamp up your product’s over all usability.

What is remote usability testing and why is it beneficial?

Remote usability testing derives from normal usability testing, providing most of the benefits while drastically reducing cost and time required. Remote usability tests utilize the internet as a means of administering the test; the moderator is connected live through the internet and/or phone lines with the test user, allowing him to observe, pose questions or chat as users click their way through an existing website, software application or wireframe prototype, negating the need to physically be in the same location. Moderators can use specialized remote usability testing tools. These allow you (and possibly other observers) to view participants’ interaction with your interface design all the while recording video and audio of the session for documentation and playback.

Remote usability testing offers more advantages than just cost savings. Remote usability testing allows you to test users from the comfort of their own home or anywhere else that is convenient to them. This places participants in a less pressurized environment, attenuating their performance anxiety. Consequently, the user experience feedback may be more reliable and hence beneficial because it is information from clients in their ‘natural habitats’ so to speak. Unlike the more expensive onsite usability testing, remote usability testing is practical even in small projects with constrained budget and resources.

What are design patterns?

In the world of interface design, design patterns are repeatable solutions to commonly occurring problems within a software program or, more precisely, its interface design.  They are patterns of problems that keep occurring during the interface design process. Thus, they are written down and named with solutions to assist future designers.  Design patterns function as a template for how to solve a problem and can be used in various situations and contexts. Design patterns are not finished designs.  They are a guide that will help you to work out the kinks in your interface design concept by providing you with a solution template as a starting point.

Benefits of design patterns in interface design

Using design patterns can help you optimize your time during the creation of a new user interface design.  Design patterns are proven and tested software development paradigms that assist you in solving all of the common problems that you encounter when crafting your interface design.  Having an established problem solving template is a great way to fix or avoid errors in your new interface design because it either provides you with a direct solution or gives you a starting point to brainstorm and formulate your own solutions in the event that the design pattern doesn’t quite work for your problem.  Reusing design patterns can help you to prevent the subtle issues that can cause major problems within your interface design, saving you time, energy, and possibly money.

Design patterns are also useful because they function like a code or a standard.  Software developers and interface designers can use well-known and understood names for software interaction patterns to communicate with each other.  This contributes to a better understanding and higher efficiency, both of which can support the collaborative nature of the interface design process.  In addition, the design patterns are constantly being tested and improved by a multitude of interaction designers and information architects, since there is such a large network of professionals using them.  The more people involved, the more diverse, creative, and useful the ideas, contributing to a dynamic design pattern evolution.

“Paper prototyping is a variation of usability testing where representative users perform realistic tasks by interacting with a paper version of the interface that is manipulated by a person ‘playing computer,’ who doesn’t explain how the interface is intended to work.” – excerpt from the book Paper Prototyping by Carolyn Snyder

What is paper prototyping?

Paper prototyping is a usability method widely used in user interface design, refinement and testing, in a process known as the user-centered design process. It helps developers in creating the interface design of software programs, websites, web applications, and handheld devices in such a way that it meets users’ expectations and needs. Paper prototyping was developed in the mid-1980s, but already by the mid-1990s paper prototyping was being used as an integral part of interface design and usability testing at blue chip companies such as Microsoft and IBM as well as at a plethora of technology and design firms large and small.

Paper prototyping is a form of Rapid Prototyping. A paper prototype is a model of what the final interface design might look like. Paper prototypes are low in fidelity (the level of detail in a prototype) and were originally sketched out by hand with the aid of a paper and pen(cil); hence the name.

Better interface design and other benefits of paper prototyping

Paper prototyping has many benefits for usability and interface design. Paper prototyping does not require any technical skills therefore allowing a wide range of people to be involved and take advantage of them. This is great for facilitating communication within multidisciplinary teams. Paper prototypes enhance communication not just within the development team but also between the team and intended end users. Paper prototypes thus can be used to gather substantive feedback early on in the development process before coding begins, thus eliminating the need to expensively fix usability errors later on. Being cheap and easy to use, paper prototyping promotes rapid iterative development because you and your team can experiment with several interface designs that can be tested for usability. Another benefit is that paper prototypes encourage creativity. When undergoing usability testing users will feel more inclined to critique or add suggestions to your interface design on a paper prototype as the prototypes are not as intimidating as a finished, refined application. The low-fidelity nature of paper prototypes also allows for the right kind of feedback. Users should report on the usability of your interface design and not the font being used or other graphic design details that can be added later in the process.