www.amas.ie

User-Centred Strategy Online

Fiachra Ó Marcaigh

3 June 2010

www.amas.ie

www.amas.ie

Presentation content

• Introduction• Internet today• User-centred universe• Examples – good and bad• What you can do• How you can do it

www.amas.ie

Background

www.amas.ie

A brief introduction…. Past• Online since 1989• Journalist and editor, The Irish Times• Digital media since 2000

Present• Director, online consultancy AMAS• Extensive work public and private sectors• Emphasis on usability, user-centred and

universal design• Some non-profit roles• Ideas Campaign (2009)

www.amas.ie

Selected clients

www.amas.ie

State of the Net: the publicationAMAS blog

www.amas.ie/blog

www.amas.ie

Internet today

www.amas.ie

Trends

Broadband growth

Smart phones

www.amas.ie

Web 1.0

www.amas.ie

Web 2.0 - digital portfolio

Social networks

Content sharing

Syndication

Your website(s)

Email newsletters

Social bookmarks

Blogs

User-generated content

Search engine profile

Multiple channels for communication,

interaction, transaction

www.amas.ie

User-centred universe

www.amas.ie

Online audiences“I don’t have to go out and find news, products or services. I expect them to find me.”

www.amas.ie

“Yes, you. You control the Information Age.Welcome to your world.”

www.amas.ie

Social networks – user-created worlds

www.amas.ie

Examples

www.amas.ie 1

www.amas.ie 1

www.amas.ie

Ideas Campaign

www.amas.ie 1

www.amas.ie 1

www.amas.ie 1

Colour?Texture?Kerb height?Decoration?

www.amas.ie

What you can do

www.amas.ie

• Success online depends on this alignment

• User needs just as vital as your organisation’s goals

• Users not tolerant of gaps between these elements

Align goals and needs

www.amas.ie

Structured, user-focused approach

Consider user at every step

www.amas.ie

How you can do it

www.amas.ie

How to do better

Planning universal online communications

No magic – just doing many small things well

• User-centred thinking

• Accessibility to a standard

• Usability – test and improve

• Think user experience

www.amas.ie

User-centred design toolkit

• Audience mapping• Surveys and focus groups• Persona development• Expert evaluation (heuristic review)

• Accessibility audit• Usability audit

• User testing by representative users

www.amas.ie

Know your users

• Who are your primary audience?• Who are your secondary

audiences?• What are the specific goals of

each audience?• What will draw and hold their

interest online?

Your audiences can include the public, sub-sets such as young people or rural dwellers, interest groups, business, state bodies, academia, NGOs – most likely a mixture of these

www.amas.ie

Personas – your typical users

• Identify your most typical users

• Name them and set out attributes

• Use them as yardsticks to plan design

www.amas.ie

eBusiness audit

Evaluation against 200+ best practice checkpoints

customer service

design and

brandingoperations online

marketing

communicate

interact

transact

technology infrastructure

usability and accessibility

legalmetrics

Focus on users

at each level

www.amas.ie

Test with real users

• Conclusion first• Then supporting

material• Finally – background

www.amas.ie

Write for the Web - help your users

• Conclusion first• Then supporting

material• Finally – background

Conclusion

Supporting material

Background

Write to be read

• Help people to scan• Break content into chunks• Label and signpost

Write to be found• Search engines are vital

www.amas.ie

Accessibility resources, standards

“The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect.”

Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the Web

www.w3.org/WAI/

www.amas.ie

Usability – Jakob Nielsen’s definition

Learnability: How easy is it for users to accomplish basic tasks the first time they encounter the design? Efficiency: Once users have learned the design, how quickly can they perform tasks? Memorability: When users return to the design after a period of not using it, how easily can they reestablish proficiency? Errors: How many errors do users make, how severe are these errors, and how easily can they recover from the errors? Satisfaction: How pleasant is it to use the design?

www.amas.ie

Universal Design resources

www.universaldesign.ie

www.amas.ie

User-centred success

• Know your users and their needs• Align your goals with user needs• Evaluate and test, with user concerns to the

fore• Build user dimension into structured

approach to online projects• Use proven techniques, such as writing for

the Web• Be guided by established good practice,

including universal and user-centred design principles