Heuristic Review Report for YouthBuild.org’s SiteView Application Website Overview The SiteView Application was found to have major usability problems in two key areas which are critical to any web based application. First, the site does not clearly communicate its intended purpose or present the user with clear instructions on what it is capable of accomplishing. Second, the desired task flows for users are severely hindered by missing information, broken controls, and local interface element issues. Also, it should be noted that the site lacks the standard security feature of automatically logging‐out users after a period of inactivity. This may not be a critical issue but if confidential information is being presented it should be built into the system. Due to the severity of the two main issues it is recommended that the site be redesigned from the ground‐up, especially due to the disorganized information architecture which serves as the foundation a site is built upon; however, if resources are a constraint then the focus should be on solving local problems which contribute to the two global issues to get the most value out of changes being implemented. The following presents details regarding the Global issues along with supporting elements and recommendations for improvements. Further related issues and specific recommendations can be found in the local issues section which follows. The methodology used for this heuristic evaluation follows the critical issues. It should be noted that heuristic evaluations are not meant to focus on positive aspects of interfaces. As a result, this report focuses on areas for improvement rather than on pointing out what was done well.
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Global Issues Issue: SiteView Ambiguity One of the key aspects to any site is to communicate its intended purpose to users as quickly as possible. SiteView does not clearly communicate this to users and has interface components that serve only to confuse the user about what can be accomplished using the tool.
Supporting Evidence: • • • • • • •
The aesthetics of the landing page cause the user to be uncertain if the page is fully loaded; There is no description of what the page/tool can be used for anywhere within the SiteView application; "History" and "See full history" links are irrelevant to the landing page; There is no ability to add a new event from main site pages; Instructions for dropdown menu are not associated because of distant location; Navigation links are located in the top‐right of the page; The site drop‐down list is overwhelmingly long and does not support quick retrieval.
Recommendations: On the landing page for SiteView an explanation of what the tool is used for would be beneficial to first time users. Also, using the entire width of the page, and framing the landing page content so that users do not feel the page is still loading, would create the required effect of closure that is currently missing. For site navigation, options for users should remain consistent as they move throughout SiteView and typically these are located horizontally across the top or vertical along the left; consider rearranging these as such. When creating the navigation items other than Yoda and QueryMaster, include persistent links that could remain useful. However, if they are not applicable on a given page, grey them out or remove them, such as is the case with the history links on the landing page where no specific site is given. For labels on buttons and drop‐downs they should be of close proximity so users are not looking in the wrong area for a control or interaction element (such as with the drop‐down label on the landing page). Improving the navigation throughout SiteView will allow users to see immediately what they can accomplish upon arriving at the landing page.
Issue: Broken Task Flows The main goal of any website/application should be to support the tasks of its users, both effectively and efficiently. The overall layout of SiteView and its interfaces hinder an efficient task flow through the system. Updating information for sites, and searching for information within sites are not well supported based on specific usability issues and global issues.
Supporting Evidence: Keeping the goals of the users in mind (finding information/updating information/comparing information) we can find several examples of SiteView elements which hinder user task flows.
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• • • • • • • • • • •
The "Filter Site List" is ambiguous. It gives no indication of what it applies to and is not clear what the user can filter on or how to turn it off; After “unfiltering” the list, the operating sites are no longer in blue; The “Filter Site List” search box does not give the user feedback that the filter is applied; The acceptable date format is unknown for the filter; The layout of the filtering elements is not intuitive (i.e., Filter history link opens controls in between the “history change” link and the “enter new information” link.); “Data correction for this site” link is ambiguous and does not specify an action; Navigation fonts are small and links are located in random location of no prominence; Filters clear after viewing one site from the filtered list causing the user to reenter the filter to look at other sites of the same criteria; An overwhelming amount of data can be provided in the site history with no means to sort or filter; Drop‐down list does not indicate currently selected site; Sites that are updated frequently can present an overwhelming amount of information on their page requiring excessive scrolling to search for desired content.
Recommendations: Based on the tasks users most frequently wish to accomplish the site should be laid out to support particular task flows. The navigation controls are a hindrance to moving throughout the site. When viewing the site specific pages clarify navigation links and put them in a prominent location (along the left or across the top). Clear fonts should be used and controls that are not accessible on a given page should be grayed out or removed depending on the user’s location in the system. Flows through the site should be logical, i.e. it is counterintuitive to go to the “history” to add “new information.” Consider what tasks users would want to accomplish (view history, update/add event, correct incorrect entry, compare sites, etc.) and make those the primary navigation links located all in a single consistent location, not throughout the interface and on different pages. When the user is progressing through a task‐flow provide feedback to him/her so they know they are progressing and know where they came from. Examples of this would be showing the filter criteria entered after it is applied so users remember what they are looking at, or putting the selected site’s name in the drop‐down list so they know they selected the appropriate site. To better support information search consider breaking up the specific site pages into sections (contact information, 30‐day history, full history, general info, etc. and create standard navigations to visit each (placed in a consistent/prominent location).
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Issue: System Security The system does not logout the user after any duration of inactivity leaving the system open for unauthorized access. This is not a usability issue by definition but it does leave the system at risk to data leakage.
Supporting Evidence: This was evident in all pages of SiteView and within QueryMaster and YODA.
Recommendations: Implement an auto‐time out feature so that the user is logged out of SiteView after a period of non‐ activity.
Methodology Four students followed the same set of heuristics (See Appendix A) to independently evaluate the SiteView website‐ including the landing page, site page, full history page, query master tool, and YODA database. Their findings were given to a fifth student to review and compile into a formal report which was then reviewed and updated by all the students for accuracy. Students performing the heuristic review were told that the primary goals of the evaluation were to identify aspects of the site that inhibited the following: 1) Clearly communicating to users what they can do given the homepage of SiteView. 2) Ensure accessing history and updating information is self‐explanatory and easy for users.
Severity Ratings The severity ratings given to the local issues are based on Chauncey Wilson’s proposed ratings scale1. This scale is based primarily on the following criteria: Performance —performance is often a primary usability attribute. Performance can be poor (e.g. searching a database takes several minutes to complete) or too good (e.g. autoscrolling can be difficult on a fast machine). Probability of loss of critical data—An example would be the wrong default button on the confirmation message 'Do you want to delete this message?'. Choosing 'Yes" for the default button would be very serious because it would cause the loss of the entire database. Probability of error—What is the impact of the error on time, money, reputation (for example, you make the default 'reply to all' and your whole team gets a message meant for only one person).
1
Usability Interface, Vol 5, No. 4, April 1999
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Violations of standards —Some companies have user interface standards. Violation of standards at one company I worked for was a high‐level usability bug even if the actual violation was not too severe. Standards are mandatory so violations of standards usually carry a higher penalty than a violation of guidelines. Impact on profit, revenue, or expenses—A high‐volume data‐entry system should be optimized for the keyboard. Forcing a user to switch from the keyboard to the mouse repeatedly could easily slow input down and increase expenses. For high‐volume input, too many keyboard‐ mouse transitions could be a severe usability problem. Aesthetics, readability, clutter—Does the user cringe when the screen comes up? Can the user find information in dense screens? This is sometimes a hard attribute to judge, but for Web pages and GUIs this is a serious issue. The levels of severity given to each issue were decided based on consensus of the students conducting the heuristic evaluation. The severity of the levels is as following: Level 1—Catastrophic error causing irrevocable loss of data or damage to the hardware or software. The problem could result in large‐scale failures that prevent many people from doing their work. Performance is so bad that the system cannot accomplish business goals. Level 2—Severe problem causing possible loss of data. User has no workaround to the problem. Performance is so poor that the system is universally regarded as 'pitiful'. Level 3—Moderate problem causing no permanent loss of data, but wasted time. There is a workaround to the problem. Internal inconsistencies result in increased learning or error rates. An important function or feature does not work as expected. Level 4—Minor but irritating problem. Generally, it causes loss of data but the problem slows users down slightly, minimal violations of guidelines that affect appearance or perception, and mistake that are recoverable. Level 5 —Minimal error. The problem is rare and causes no data loss or major loss of time. Minor cosmetic or consistency issue. When considering these severity ratings it should be noted that the degree to which a usability issue affects the overall user‐experience of a system is often debatable; therefore, while these ratings represent the HFIDO team’s best effort to classify the issues, they should be supplemented with the input of experienced SiteView users.
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Technical Issue Technical issues are not interface or display issues and are not directly related to task flow. They should be addressed as a top priority as they are typically caused by software bugs which should not exist in final user interfaces.
ID Issue 0 Directory output sometimes returns with errors
Rationale
Recommendation
Svrty
Task Flow
Fix database bugs that causes errors in the website
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Page
Category
2 Query Master Technical
Global Issues Global issues are those that are found throughout the entire application. In the case of SiteView they can be seen on different site history pages and/or QueryMaster and YODA. Addressing global issues typically requires more resources; however the value that can be gained by solving them can be seen throughout the entire site and often offers the largest impact to users.
Issue
Rationale
Recommendation
Severity Category
There is no description of what the page/tool can be used for.
Task Flow
Prior to logging in, add a description of the tool. Once logged in, add some brief "About" documentation.
3 Global
Over time, this page will fill up with data, which will make info hard to find Page layout varies depending on site choice (see FIGURE 4 and FIGURE 5) Instructions provided are lengthy and confusing
Working Memory Support
Only show the first 10 events on this page, then provide links to past events, based on dates
3 Global
Prior Knowledge
Use consistent layout
4 Global
Readability & Working Memory Support
Do not use one long explanation – provide instruction links for each component
4 Global
Page does not fill the screen
Readability
Expand landing pages so they fill the screen
5 Global
Inconsistent look & feel with rest of site
Mental models
Create consistent look & feel
5 Global
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Local Issues Local issues are page specific within the application. Often they require low resources to improve but focusing on all the local issues for more frequently accessed pages can provide a great deal of benefit to the users. The issues below are grouped by site page.
Landing Page Issue
Rationale
Recommendation
The blue used to highlight operating sites is quite light which makes it difficult to identify operating sites (see FIGURE 3) The dark blue background with white text is tiring on the eyes.
Color use
Use a darker background color and possibly change the text color to ensure suitable contrast.
5 Aesthetics / Display
Visual stress
Use a lighter shade of blue for the background with a very dark blue or black for the text
5 Aesthetics / Display
Text is very close to the border of the page, which makes it difficult to perceive groupings (see FIGURE 1) Uncertain if page is fully loaded
Gestalt & Grouping Ensure that there is sufficient space between areas of text and fields
5 Aesthetics / Display
Mental Models
Create closure with a frame around the page’s content
3 User Expectations
Readability & Working Memory Support Contrast, Gestalt & Mental Models
Consider an alternative way of providing the information to the user. Could use a search criteria ‐ search results ‐ filter, mechanism. Make font larger; organize YODA and QM separately from Help, Filter, and Home; Organize links in a top horizontal or left side navigation bar Move instruction above the drop down list
3 Navigation
Drop‐down list is very long and very dense (see SS3)
Navigation links are small and are placed in a non‐traditional area. Instructions are below fields use Task flow for action ("Please use dropdown…") ‐ does not follow the natural top‐down flow (see FIGURE 2)
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Category
4 Navigation
4 Navigation
Issue
Rationale
Recommendation
"History" and "See full history" link is irrelevant to the landing page "Filter site list" is ambiguous. Gives no indication of what it applies to; it’s not clear what you can filter on or how to turn it off After 'unfiltering' the list, the operating sites are no longer in blue (see FIGURE 15) “Filter Site List” search box does not give the user feedback that the filter is applied (see FIGURE 14)
Task Flow
These links should only appear when relevant (in a site page)
4 Navigation
Task flow
Use the word "Search" instead; give filter criteria; e.g. zip, city, state, alpha etc.; Add cancel button to field
3 Filter
Task Flow
Provide a button to remove the filter and provide the full list of sites, with the operating sites in blue
3 Filter
Task Flow
Add text to show that a filter is applied
4 Filter
Severity
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Category
Individual Site Page
Issue
Rationale
Recommendation
Contact information is very small (see FIGURE 7)
Readability
Enlarge font; Display on multiple lines if necessary
5 Aesthetics / Display
Highlighted headers distracting
Color Use
Bold and enlarged font for titles are sufficient in indicating categories; Color is should be avoided
5 Aesthetics / Display
Pale yellow dividers are ineffective
Color Use
Replace with think black or grey lines to create separation of sections
5 Aesthetics / Display
Number of colors in text headings is distracting (see FIGURE 17) Pink note causes visual fatigue
Color Use & Distractions
Remove grey/green background from headings
5 Aesthetics / Display
Color Use & Visual Stress
Make "Note" red and bold and remove the pink box; Keep remaining text in black
5 Aesthetics / Display
Grey dividing lines are unnecessary and distracting
Gestalt
Remove lines and whitespace to indicate layout
5 Aesthetics / Display
No ability to add a new event from the main site page
Task Flow
Add an "Add Event" button
3 Navigation
Drop‐down list does not indicate Working Memory currently selected choice Support
Show the currently selected choice
4 Navigation
Email is linked in the staff contact section, but not the site information section History is secondary information (site name is primary), but is in the most prominent position Use of undefined acronyms (AmC, DOL, etc) (see FIGURE 16)
Task Flow
Be consistent across the site, hyperlink all of the email addresses on the site
4 Information Presentation
Gestalt
Move main site information to the left, and history to the right
4 Information Presentation
Long‐term Memory Support
Either use the full name the first time used, or provide a legend
4 Information Presentation
Non explicit terminology or data.
Long‐term Memory Support
Use hover help to expand or explain
4 Information Presentation
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Category
Issue
Rationale
Recommendation
Severity
Initiative list is confusing ‐ are these unselected check boxes or square bullets? These are not editable. (see FIGURE 6) "Data Correction for this site" link is ambiguous, and unclear why its "pops" “Data Correction…” link attracts attention
Readability
Make explicit whether these are checkboxes for accomplishments, or simply bullets
4 Information Presentation
Task Flow
Re‐label "edit" or "update data”
5 Information Presentation
Distractions & Contrast
Lighten contrast for this link
5 Information Presentation
Organization is lacking priority
Readability & Gestalt
Offer structure that provides hierarchy of importance, using alignment, heading font size, grouping, and color.
5 Information Presentation
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Category
Site Full History Page Issue
Rationale
Recommendation
Severity
Screen layout is quite complex (see FIGURE 10)
Gestalt
Move components so they align with each other
5 Aesthetics / Display
"Filter" menu and "Enter New Information" menu cannot be closed once opened "Submit History Change" link implies an action that occurs immediately and is thus misleading “Enter New…” and “Filter History…” links open control boxes, but the “Submit History Change” link opens a new page Redundant text within the table of history; the types of information displayed are not clearly presented Events on the same day are on two different rows (see FIGURE 18) "Submit…" "Enter…" wordy and do not feel like links
Distractions
Allow the ability to close the menus if unnecessary
3 Navigation
Task Flow
Link should read "Request a Change" that will lead to the new window where changes can be submitted
3 Navigation
Mental Models
Be consistent by opening controls on this page to submit a history change
4 Navigation
Distractions & Readability
Create headers for a table that includes: Date, Type, Attachment/Link, Entered by, Funder, and Comments
4 Information Presentation
Gestalt Principles
5 Information Presentation
Mental Models
If documents or events on entered on the same day, group them together (remove the <HR> between same dates) Rename "Add", and "Edit", and use buttons, not links.
“Click to see…” is unnecessary
Readability
Hyperlink "Data Provided"
5 Information Presentation
"Filter history to include only items you select" is verbose and redundant Filter control date format is not known
Readability
Link should just read "Filter History"
5 Information Presentation
Mental Models
Provide the required data format for the search ('1/1/2008' vs. 'Jan 1 08', etc)
4 Filter
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Category
5 Information Presentation
QueryMaster Issue
Rationale
Recommendation
Buttons of various sizes creates clutter (see FIGURE 13)
Anxiety & Readability
Is not clear that the red list is the list which will be used in the end
Task Flow
Use checkboxes to select desired options and add an "OK" button; Reduce Spreadsheet labels to a single "Spreadsheet" option with secondary checkboxes to select "site list", "w/ Exec 1", and "w/Exec 1 & 2"; Reduce Directory options to a single "Directory" with a secondary box to select "w/ Description" Add text to explain that the red list will be used for output
3 User Expectations
The sort requires two parameters
Task Flow
Sorting by secondary or multiple parameters should be an option, not a requirement
4 User Expectations
“Merge Red and Green…” and “Put Sites from both…” actions seem to be the same
Mental Models
Provide an explanation of what the intent of these buttons is and the differences between them
4 Navigation
Output lists ‐ buttons do not look as though they can be pressed (see FIGURE 13)
Metaphors
Make the buttons look more like traditional interface buttons.
4 Navigation
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Category
4 Aesthetics / Display
Issue
Rationale
Recommendation
Clear buttons (see FIGURE 11) do not indicate their purpose.
Mental models
If the purpose is to clear these lists, move buttons below the site lists
4 Navigation
Links across the top do not look like links
Mental models
Either underline to convey hyperlink or make into buttons or tabs
4 Navigation
Select sites ‐ icons are not identifiable as action buttons (see FIGURE 12)
Prior Knowledge ‐ Mental models
Use buttons with action‐oriented text
4 Navigation
No link to SiteView, or YODA
Task Flow
Provide a link back to SiteView; provide Global Navigation system
4 Navigation
Numbers do not convey task flow
Task Flow & Mental Models
Use a visual solution such as a screen by screen wizard
4 Navigation
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Category
Issue
Rationale
Recommendation
Severity
Links in top‐right corner have inconsistent behavior ‐ some open new windows, and one opens in the same window
Mental Models
Make the YODA link open in a new window
5 Navigation
Help link is outdated
Mental Models
This page should provide information for IE, Mozilla, and Mac users
4 Information Presentation
New Features lists many unnecessary items
Distractions
List only new features that are not obvious in the QueryMaster
4 Information Presentation
New Features are dated ambiguously
Readability
Date should come after the listed change in a shorter format (mm/dd/yy)
4 Information Presentation
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Category
YODA Issue
Rationale
Recommendation
Indentation is inconsistent and unintuitive
Readability
Make sure that sub‐levels are right indented to the level above
4 Aesthetics / Display
Most detailed information is hard to read
Legibility & Readability
5 Aesthetics / Display
It is not initially clear that this view is going to expand and collapse menus When surface hierarchies are collapsed, previously opened deeper topics do not auto‐ collapse No search feature
Mental Models
Provide more space between the information and the next heading; Shift text to the right so that it is under appropriate sub‐heading; Increase font Use [+] and [‐] to show that menus can be expanded and collapsed
Readability & Distraction
Collapse all levels of information when highest level is collapsed
5 User Expectations
Learning Styles
Replace with a wiki; insert search bar
3 Navigation
Difficult to differentiate among hierarchies
Gestalt, Readability & Distractions Working Memory Support
Add vertical space between sub‐headings; do not bold every heading; remove numbering system
4 Information Presentation
For items that require step‐by‐step operations, break these down into steps and list them as such.
4 Information Presentation
Mental Models
The minimum hierarchy should not collapse
5 Information Presentation
Topics with technical instructions are in paragraph form and are hard to read The main title "Information Services" collapses
Severity
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Category
4 User Expectations
Referred to Screen Shots
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
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Figure 4
Figure 5
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Figure 6
Figure 7
Figure 8
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Figure 9
Figure 10
Figure 11
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Figure 12
Figure 13
Figure 14
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Figure 15
Figure 16
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Figure 17
Figure 18
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Appendix A: Detailed Web Heuristics and References
Sensory Sensory factors are the biologically determined factors that allow people to focus on specific objects within an interface. The most important sensory factors involve attention allocation, contrast, color choice, and text legibility.
Contrast
Can the user distinguish target objects from extraneous noise? i
Can the user tell the difference between different target objects? ii
Do text and other detailed objects have sufficient contrast from the background? iii
Legibility
Is the print large enough to be read? iv
Is the font thick enough? v
Is the background hue light enough to facilitate reading of the text? vi
Is the text darker than the background? vii
Does the interface use standard fonts such as Times New Roman or Arial? viii
Is there enough space between words and sentences? ix
Color Use
Are color choices consistent with color-coding conventions? x
Do the colors in the foreground have a significant brightness contrast with the background? xi
Are fully saturated colors used sparingly and only to highlight important objects? xii
Does the interface provide alternatives to color-coding for those who are colorblind?
xiii
Are red and green avoided in labeling to accommodate those who are colorblind? xiv
Visual Stress
Does the interface avoid causing visual stress or fatigue? xv
Does the interface use excessive flashing? xvi
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PreAttentive Pre-attentive processing allows people to perceive groupings and patterns within an information space. The most important pre-attentive factors involve Gestalt principles, habituation, and priming.
Gestalt Principles and Grouping Patterns
Are items that belong together strongly aligned? xvii
Are objects that are grouped together placed near each other? xviii
Are objects that should not be associated with each other placed far enough away from each other?xix
Are grouped items similar to each other in shape, size, color, etc.? xx
Effects of Habituation
Are any elements of the interface or words used too often to be effective? xxi
Prior Knowledge All of the things that a person has encountered before coming upon the interface in question constitute the user’s prior knowledge. It is important for an interface to build upon the expectations that a user’s prior knowledge has given the user about interfaces, the subject matter, and general concepts. Mental Models
Does the interface take into account the expectations that the user has? xxii
Can novice users easily build an accurate mental model of the interface? xxiii
Does the interface accommodate both top-down and bottom-up processing of information? xxiv
If the user is an expert, does the interface prevent the user from performing the task?
xxv
Does the interface take into account how strong the user's memory of the task is?
xxvi
Metaphors
Does the interface make effective use of metaphors? xxvii
Does the interface take advantage of associations that the user may have? xxviii
Task Flow
Does the interface have the appropriate task flow? xxix
Does the interface present procedural information at the appropriate level? xxx
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Use of Pictures
Are images easy to misinterpret? xxxi
Are images used to help the memory? xxxii
Can the user tell the meanings of different pictures apart? xxxiii
Are icons meaningful? xxxiv
MetaCognitive Meta-cognitive factors include all of the basic learning strategies that the user developed at an early age. Such meta-cognitive processes include reading and learning style. It is important for an interface to take into account reading comprehension and learning styles, particularly when the interface involves a lot of informational text or the user is expected to learn something from the information presented. Readability
Does the user interface use appropriate typography?
For Web pages, does the interface use a legible combination of font, font size, font style, font color, and background color? xxxv
Does the interface avoid fixed-width type (such as Courier New) for passages of text? xxxvi
Does the interface avoid using all uppercase characters for passages of text? xxxvii
Is there adequate line spacing? xxxviii
Does text avoid right-justification? xxxix
Does the text avoid excessive font changes? xl
Is text scannable?
Is the text broken into appropriate chunks? xli
Are chunks labeled appropriately? xlii
Is there adequate white space? xliii
Are objects organized in importance from left to right or from top to bottom? xliv
Learning Styles
Does the interface provide information both visually and verbally? xlv
Memory Working memory is the part of the memory that remembers items for the short-term and is where all new information processing occurs. It is important for an interface to do everything possible to lessen the load on working memory, since its capacity is limited. It is also important for an interface to facilitate storage in long-term memory for things that should be remembered.
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Distractions
Does the interface minimize distractions?
Are ads or toolbars visually separate from the target areas of each screen? xlvi
Are possible distractors sufficiently different (visually or semantically) from target items? xlvii
Working Memory Support
Does the interface avoid requiring the user to rehearse or remember information from one screen to the next? xlviii
Where complex information must be presented, does the interface split the work between the verbal and visual processing systems? xlix
Are labels placed close to the object they are labeling? l
Does the text avoid using terms before they are defined? li
Does the interface explain possible outcomes of decisions? lii
Does the interface present comparison information on one screen, aligned for easy comparison?
Longterm Memory Support
For concepts that are worth users' learning them, does the interface support storage in long-term memory?
Does the design provide cues that will help the memory? liii
Affective Affective factors are basically comprised of aesthetics. They are less critical than the other factors, but if the aesthetics hamper the user’s progress, such as causing anxiety in the user, they will lessen the usability of the interface. Anxiety
Does the user interface avoid causing anxiety in the user?
Does the interface avoid messages that seem to evaluate the user? liv
Does the interface provide positive feedback (indications of task success)? lv
Does the interface provide sufficient structure (guidance) for the user's tasks? lvi
i
Wickens, C. D., Gordon, S. E., & Liu, Y. (1998). An introduction to human factors engineering. New York: Longman. p. 102. ii Wickens, C. D., Gordon, S. E., & Liu, Y. (1998). An introduction to human factors engineering. New York: Longman. p. 107.
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