Steve KrugCity University London

3 October 2011

I’m just a guy with a hammer

Public Service Announcement:

Do not shake hands with this guy >

© 2001 Steve Krug

Who is he, anyway?

Steve Krug (steev kroog) (noun) 1. Son, husband, father 2. Resident of Brookline, MA3. Usability consultant

Advanced Common Sense Me and a few well-placed mirrors Corporate motto: “It’s not rocket surgery™”

Nice clients Lexus.com Bloomberg.com Technology Review

So, it’s 2011, right?

Why usability? We’ve learned our lesson

© 2001 Steve Krug

Even when I’m just minding my own business

© 2001 Steve Krug

Things yell at me

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Assert their dominance over me

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And treat me badly when I comply

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If Don Norman was writing it today

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It wouldn’t be elevators and doors

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?

Show of hands

Help me calibrate Have read Don’t Make Me Think? Wondering when I’ll write another

book?

© 2001 Steve Krug

Surprise!

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Let’s go back eleven years

I was trying to figure out what advice to give

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“My ideal home page,” as told by…

© 2001 Steve Krug

“My ideal home page,” as told by…

My solution? Usability testing

Best thing I know of for quieting arguments Based on watching users, not personal

biases Creates a shared experience Aha moment: Our users are not like us You’re too close to realize how little

they know See it through their eyes

It just works© 2001 Steve Krug

What is a usability test?

Watching people try to use what you create while thinking out loud

NOT a focus group Focus groups are about opinions Usability tests are about watching use

© 2001 Steve Krug

I believe anyone can do it

...if they keep it simple enough

© 2001 Steve Krug

Most sites don’t get tested

$$$ Time Even if there was enough money,

there aren’t enough professionals

© 2001 Steve Krug

Traditional usability testing

Lab Experienced professional 8 users, minimum Big honkin’ report Weeks of work, usually by an

outsider $5k - $10k Happens rarely

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Do-it-yourself usability testing

Three users per round Three should be plenty You’ll be doing it again next month You’ll find more problems than you can

fix No lab or mirrors

Set up a monitor in another room so the development team can watch

No elaborate recruiting “Recruit loosely and grade on a curve”

© 2001 Steve Krug

Do-it-yourself usability testing

Record with Camtasia or Morae (Techsmith.com) or CamStudio

No stats, no exit questions, no faux validity

No big report Debrief over lunch

And now, a demo test

The smallest demo test in recorded history

© 2001 Steve Krug

We need a volunteer

Qualifying criteria: Have used a Web browser English-speaking adult Doesn’t work for AT&T Wireless It’s painless!

You’ll get a big round of applause when we’re done

© 2001 Steve Krug

RSME: The fifteen minute version

Six maxims

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A morning a month, that’s all we ask.

© 2001 Steve Krug

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When this happens: Say this:You’re not absolutely sure you know what the user is thinking (see below).

“What are you thinking?”

“What are you looking at?” (for variety)

“What are you doing now?” (e.g., if you think they’re being silent because they’re reading)

Something happens that seems to surprise them. For instance, they click on a link and go “Oh” when the new page appears.

“Is that what you expected to happen?”

They’re trying to get you to give them a clue. (“Should I use the ___?”)

“What would you do if you were at home?”

“What would you do if I wasn't here?”

The participant makes a comment, and you’re not sure what triggered it.

“Was there something in particular that made you think that?”

The participant suggests concern that he’s not giving you what you need.

“No, this is very helpful.”

“This is exactly what we need.”The participant asks you to explain how something is supposed to work. (“Do these support requests get answered right away?”)

“I can’t answer that right now, because we need to know what you would do when you don’t have somebody around to answer questions for you. But if you still want to know when we’re done, I’ll be glad to answer it then.”

The participant seems to have wandered away from the task.

“What are you trying to do now?”

© 2001 Steve Krug

Start earlier than you think makes sense.

Incorrect thinking

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Correct thinking

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Recruit loosely and grade on a curve.

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Naturally, we need to test people who are just like our target

audience. … people who are a lot like

our users.

… people who actually use our

site.

Representative users!

Real users!

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Make it a spectator sport.

© 2001 Steve Krug

© 2001 Steve Krug

Focus ruthlessly on a small number of the most important problems.

One problem: testing works too well

If you’ve done any testing, you know uncovers lots of problems quickly

This is part of the problem: It takes far less resources to find

problems than to fix them You can find more in a day than you

can fix in a month

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Problems you can find with just a few test participants

Problemsyou have theresources to fix

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When fixing problems, always do the least you can do™.

© 2001 Steve Krug

Your motto should be…

What’s the smallest change we can make that we think might solve the observed problem?

Tweak, don’t redesign Often the best solution is removing

something, not adding something

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Run, do not walk, to Amazon.com

© 2001 Steve Krug

And the companion volume…

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Thanks for all the fish

Send any questions, feedback, gripes to

skrug@sensible.com@skrug on the Twitter

And come visit

www.sensible.com

Questions, anyone?

© 2001 Steve Krug

© 2011 Steve Krug