Usability Services
In Usability Services, our goal is to promote and support usability and accessibility in the design of information technology at the University of Minnesota. In the usability lab and through our consulting projects, we provide an environment and process that enables design teams to learn the user’s perspective on a software product’s user interface.
While our primary objective is to provide usability consulting support to University project teams developing Web sites or Web applications, we also provide support to academic researchers and instructors for their research and class projects. In addition, we promote software usability and accessibility, as an outreach activity, both within the University and to external communities.
What is Usability?
Usability is a product's capability of being used easily and intuitively by the intended users.
Usability testing and other usability methods are ways of evaluating the quality of the user's experience with the product with the purpose of improving the product's design.
Usability enables self-service on the Web
- Most of our projects involve Web sites or Web applications
- Users can get a service quickly and easily on the Web any time of the day
- Web-based services provide a means of delivering consistent quality to each user
- A self-service strategy can lower cost of providing the service
- Successful self-service on the Web requires a user-friendly interface
What is a user-friendly Web interface?
Understanding the user experience helps Web designers match their Web design to their users' needs and expectations:
- Effective
- Can users use the Web site or application to accomplish what they want to do?
- Easy to learn and remember
- Is it obvious to users how the Web site or application is used?
- Can users do what they need to do without reading instructions?
- Is the user interface easy to remember the next time it is used?
- Successful error handling
- Is the process error free?
- If errors can occur, are the error messages easy to understand?
- Can users recover from the errors without starting over?
- Satisfaction in the user experience
- Is the look and feel of the design compatible with its purpose?
- Do users regard the design as pleasant or satisfying?
It is not sufficient for Web sites and applications to be merely "possible to use." Web designers want to avoid having users feel frustrated or insulted by the user interface.
Usability can help Web designers see the user perspective early on in the design process, while there is still an opportunity to modify the design to provide a better user experience.
For more information contact:
David Rosen
Usability Services Manager
Phone: (612) 624-9365
E-mail: rose0414@umn.edu
