1. Android app usability Riaan Cornelius a.k.a Making an app
useful
2. Topics Because nobody likes a surprise 2 A quick intro to
usability What, Why, How andWhen? Usability Heuristics Quick intro
to the design process Lets come up with some requirements for an
app A look at existing apps Designing a new app Requirements
Prototyping it Testing it
3. What is usability 3 Usability is the ease of use and
learnability of a human-made object. Usability includes methods of
measuring usability, such as needs analysis and the study of the
principles behind an object's perceived efficiency or elegance. In
human-computer interaction and computer science, usability studies
the elegance and clarity with which the interaction with a computer
program or a web site is designed. Definition on Wikipedia
4. What is usability The 5 quality components 4 Usability is
defined by 5 quality components: Learnability Efficiency
Memorability Errors Satisfaction
5. What is usability Quality metrics 5 Usability and utility
are equally important. To study a design's utility, you can use the
same user research methods that improve usability. Utility =
whether it provides the features you need. Usability = how easy
& pleasant these features are to use. Useful = usability +
utility.
6. Why is usability important? Quality metrics 6 Usability is a
necessary condition for survival. If an app is difficult to use,
people uninstall. If users get lost in an app, they uninstall. If
an apps information is hard to read or doesn't answer users' key
questions, they uninstall.
7. How do we improve usability? Through hard work 7 Most basic
and useful method: User testing. User testing has 3 components: 1.
Find users 2. Let them do stuff 3. Observe them doing stuff Shut up
and let the users do the talking.
8. How do we improve usability? Through hard work 8 Testing 5
users is typically enough to identify worst usability issues.
Rather than 1 big study, do lots of small tests and fix issues
between every test. The more interface ideas you test with users,
the better. Iterative design is the best way to increase UX
quality.
9. When do we look at usability? Short answer? Always! 9
Usability plays a role in each stage of the design process. Here
are the main steps: Before starting the new design, test the old
design. Test your competitors' designs. Conduct a field study to
see how users behave in their natural habitat. Make paper
prototypes of one or more new design ideas and test them. Refine
the design ideas that test best through multiple iterations Inspect
the design relative to established usability guidelines Once you
decide on and implement the final design, test it again.
10. Usability heuristics What we use to rate an app 10 Jakob
Nielsen's 10 general principles for interaction design. They are
called "heuristics" because they are broad rules of thumb and not
specific usability guidelines. Visibility of system status Match
between system and the real world User control and freedom
Consistency and standards Error prevention Recognition rather than
recall Flexibility and efficiency of use Aesthetic and minimalist
design Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors Help
and documentation
11. When do we look at usability? The cold hard truth 11 I know
what youre thinking
12. So, lets design an app Requirements 12 What would a load
shedding app need? I need some help for this part
19. Loadshedding SA 5k 10k Downloads (2.8 Stars) 19
20. So, lets design an app Requirements 20 What would a load
shedding app need? Current load shedding status Choose an area you
are interested in Multiple areas? How about detecting your location
and narrowing it down? Maybe even detect my zone / region based on
power outages? Show load shedding times for my area What about for
the next week? Push notifications Countdown to start / end of load
shedding? Power utility contact details Social media (Twitter, etc)
for Eskom / power utility
21. So, lets design an app Requirements 21 What about other
usability issues? How do you keep all schedules updated? Which
areas do you support? Performance? Updates? App size?
22. Prototyping Make it real 22 Low fidelity: Paper Prototype
On Paper (POP) Balsamiq High fidelity Photoshop InDesign
InVisionApp Axure RP Pro
23. Prototyping Make it real 23 Prototype On Paper (POP)
24. Demo Lets see some prototypes 24 Demonstration
http://invis.io/262VK87TU