I think this heuristic is potentially the most important one as it helps users avoid and recover from errors that can ruin a users experience or worse. For example: the website for my bank (State Bank) has a feature after I log in to online banking through its site and am not active after ten minutes, an error message offers a prompt that asks if I want to stay on the site or end my session. If I don't answer within 30 seconds, it logs out for me and closes the page to protect my banking information.
https://www.statebt.com/#/personal-banking
Thursday, July 28, 2011
fivesecondtest.com Site Testing
Doing a couple quick tests on some free usability sites, it was interesting to see how challenging the questions were to satisfy. I had 5 seconds to look at a site and then respond to what I thought the site was about. The task was complicated by a design of a large box with diagonally crossed lines across it. The leading lines distracted me and at the fifth second was when I was able to glean that the site had something to do with a "market."
TAO Journal - 1st Entry
1.Trend - At a Braves game yesterday (7/27) I noticed 10 foul balls that were caught by male fans ranging in age I would guess between 13 and 60. When each of the men caught or retrieved the foul ball, 8 of the 10 that I saw held the ball up over his head triumphantly.
Anomaly - 2 of the male fans that caught or retrieved one of the foul balls simply put the ball in his pocket or sat down without any demonstration of exuberance or since of accomplishment.
I believe that this trend and anomaly occur in both cases because the guys who retrieve the balls know that the eyes of the rest of the fans are tracking the ball, and they feel that they are being looked on when the ball ends up in their respective hands. In most cases, it appears that those who catch it are proud of catching and being "the one" who got it, while in the case of the anomaly, the fan is content to merely have the ball and would rather avoid the public eye by humbly demurring. I also believe the reason the fans who caught the foul balls were male is because the aggressiveness typically required to compete with others vying for the ball is more aptly found in the male population, and perhaps too the general disinterest of women in the possession of the ball.
2. Trend - On Monday, July 25 I was pretending to look for something on the aisle of Publix where home products are. I was there for about an hour and observed five people who bought toilet paper. One was a man, age about 40, and three were women ages about 28, 35 and 60. The trend I observed was that people tend to pick up items they need as they see them.
Anomaly - Two of the women and the man picked up the toilet paper as they were passing it on the aisle before continuing down the aisle to continue shopping. The other woman (who was older than anyone else observed) seemed to identify where the toilet paper was, walk past it and look at a couple other items on the aisle and then return to the toilet paper and putting the package in her buggy.
I believe that my presence on the aisle led the older woman to try and delay her putting the toilet paper in her cart out of embarrassment. I can't say if this is truly age related but it seems like it could be sense the other people had no such hesitance to put the item they needed in their groceries. I thought the opposite would be true in that people closer to my peer group would be more likely to get embarrassed about their selection of toilet paper in front of me.
3. Trend - At the bank last Wednesday, July 20, I was at the bank waiting on a personal banker and had to observe people coming through the the bank (State Bank on E. Paces Ferry). I saw about 15 people come through the door. Of the 15, all but three walked directly to the teller.
3. Anomaly - The other three seemed confused or to be looking for something. It occurred to me that they were all probably looking for an island on which to fill out a deposit slip as that is what one of the confused patrons asked one of the tellers for (there was not one in the branch).
I believe that those who walked directly to the teller had probably been in the branch before and knew that there was no island on which to fill out a deposit form before approaching the teller and so performed the latter act without thinking. It's also possible that they just walked directly to the teller because there was no island/desk with deposit slips. In either event, it seems that those who looked confused by the absence of an island/desk with deposit slips were used to other banks who employ the common practice of providing such amenities. I would suggest that the bank utilize a sign of some sort that says something along the lines of "Please Proceed to Teller" so that those who do not see what they are looking for know that they are not intended to find the same.
Observations:
1.This week I observed a couple interesting bits. At the circus today, I heard one student ask another if he wanted to go "Rip butt". I had no idea what this meant until the other student replied "Nah, I just had one" at which point I was able to deduce that the former student had been referring to smoking a cigarette, "butt" being slang for a cigarette butt. The exchange was clearly a pre-used and slightly inside joke the two.
2. At Woody's Philly Cheesesteaks on Monroe Drive, there is no space for people who have to go orders to wait that is not in the way of people ordering or eating. Obviously space can be expensive to expand, but surely after years of operation there actually IS a place that the managers/operators would PREFER people to wait, and yet there was no signage to that effect.
3. Drivers in Atlanta will pull up into an intersection when attempting to turn left. What's remarkable about this observation is that the drivers behind the lead driver will typically pull right up behind the lead driver for as many car lengths as they can between where the driver is supposed to stop at the intersection and where the lead driver is actually stopped in the middle of the intersection. Then as the light turns yellow and the oncoming traffic begins to stop, not only will the lead driver turn on the yellow light, but the rest of the cars behind the lead driver and still in the intersection also turn despite what is by then a red light. I've seen this with up to three cars going after the red light in order to "clear the intersection," no doubt.
Anomaly - 2 of the male fans that caught or retrieved one of the foul balls simply put the ball in his pocket or sat down without any demonstration of exuberance or since of accomplishment.
I believe that this trend and anomaly occur in both cases because the guys who retrieve the balls know that the eyes of the rest of the fans are tracking the ball, and they feel that they are being looked on when the ball ends up in their respective hands. In most cases, it appears that those who catch it are proud of catching and being "the one" who got it, while in the case of the anomaly, the fan is content to merely have the ball and would rather avoid the public eye by humbly demurring. I also believe the reason the fans who caught the foul balls were male is because the aggressiveness typically required to compete with others vying for the ball is more aptly found in the male population, and perhaps too the general disinterest of women in the possession of the ball.
2. Trend - On Monday, July 25 I was pretending to look for something on the aisle of Publix where home products are. I was there for about an hour and observed five people who bought toilet paper. One was a man, age about 40, and three were women ages about 28, 35 and 60. The trend I observed was that people tend to pick up items they need as they see them.
Anomaly - Two of the women and the man picked up the toilet paper as they were passing it on the aisle before continuing down the aisle to continue shopping. The other woman (who was older than anyone else observed) seemed to identify where the toilet paper was, walk past it and look at a couple other items on the aisle and then return to the toilet paper and putting the package in her buggy.
I believe that my presence on the aisle led the older woman to try and delay her putting the toilet paper in her cart out of embarrassment. I can't say if this is truly age related but it seems like it could be sense the other people had no such hesitance to put the item they needed in their groceries. I thought the opposite would be true in that people closer to my peer group would be more likely to get embarrassed about their selection of toilet paper in front of me.
3. Trend - At the bank last Wednesday, July 20, I was at the bank waiting on a personal banker and had to observe people coming through the the bank (State Bank on E. Paces Ferry). I saw about 15 people come through the door. Of the 15, all but three walked directly to the teller.
3. Anomaly - The other three seemed confused or to be looking for something. It occurred to me that they were all probably looking for an island on which to fill out a deposit slip as that is what one of the confused patrons asked one of the tellers for (there was not one in the branch).
I believe that those who walked directly to the teller had probably been in the branch before and knew that there was no island on which to fill out a deposit form before approaching the teller and so performed the latter act without thinking. It's also possible that they just walked directly to the teller because there was no island/desk with deposit slips. In either event, it seems that those who looked confused by the absence of an island/desk with deposit slips were used to other banks who employ the common practice of providing such amenities. I would suggest that the bank utilize a sign of some sort that says something along the lines of "Please Proceed to Teller" so that those who do not see what they are looking for know that they are not intended to find the same.
Observations:
1.This week I observed a couple interesting bits. At the circus today, I heard one student ask another if he wanted to go "Rip butt". I had no idea what this meant until the other student replied "Nah, I just had one" at which point I was able to deduce that the former student had been referring to smoking a cigarette, "butt" being slang for a cigarette butt. The exchange was clearly a pre-used and slightly inside joke the two.
2. At Woody's Philly Cheesesteaks on Monroe Drive, there is no space for people who have to go orders to wait that is not in the way of people ordering or eating. Obviously space can be expensive to expand, but surely after years of operation there actually IS a place that the managers/operators would PREFER people to wait, and yet there was no signage to that effect.
3. Drivers in Atlanta will pull up into an intersection when attempting to turn left. What's remarkable about this observation is that the drivers behind the lead driver will typically pull right up behind the lead driver for as many car lengths as they can between where the driver is supposed to stop at the intersection and where the lead driver is actually stopped in the middle of the intersection. Then as the light turns yellow and the oncoming traffic begins to stop, not only will the lead driver turn on the yellow light, but the rest of the cars behind the lead driver and still in the intersection also turn despite what is by then a red light. I've seen this with up to three cars going after the red light in order to "clear the intersection," no doubt.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Frustrating Netflix Interface
Thursday, July 14, 2011
TAO Assignment
Friday, July 1, 2011 at 7:28AM
Background
- In 2010, I introduced the term "The Tao of Experience Design" in my behavior analysis tool "Experience Thresholds"
- "TAO" is an acronym for "Trends, Anomalies and Observations."
- More specifically, I encourage User Experience Designers and Information Architects to consider what they see in design and behavior by asking "What are the trends, anomalies and [general] observations that I am noticing when I compare multiple designs of multiple behaviors?"
Activity
- In this activity, you will create a public blog (if you haven't already). A free blog can be created by visiting Blogger.
- Once you have created the blog, you will be responsible for posting one article per week with the following
- What are 3 trends that you have noticed in how people "interact" with information?
- A trend is a behavior, event or decision that occurs repeatedly.
- For this exercise, you must be the first-hand observer of the trend (i.e. I noticed that mothers of grade school children read school the "school updates" poster at the front door of Henderson Mill Elementary School).
- You must cite
- the locations where you noticed this trend (i.e. I noticed that this behavior occurs outside of the front door within 3-4 feet of the poster)
- when you noticed this trend (i.e. I noticed that this behavior occurs in the afternoons around 3.30 pm when mothers are picking up their children)
- in whom you noticed this trend (i.e. This behavior was noticed in 8 females and two males [presumably parents or family members of the students])
- For how long you noticed this trend (i.e. I've noticed the behavior on 3 occasions, and each occasion lasts approximately 30 seconds).
- You must also indicate your belief as to why that trend is occurring. (i.e. I believe the individuals are interacting with the data because they are interested in learning more about the daily lives of their children. I suspect they are parents, and I suspect that they are interested in protecting and assessing the welfare of their children.)
- What are 3 anomalies that you have noticed in how people "interact" with information?
- An anomaly is a behavior or design-decision that occurs once is is markedly different than the behavior or design-decision that is typically made. (i.e. Although many people appear to read this poster, individuals in large, multi-person vans never read this poster)
- For this exercise, you must be the first-hand observer of the anomaly.
- You must cite the locations where you noticed this anomaly, when you noticed this anomaly, with whom you noticed this anomaly, and for how long you noticed this anomaly.
- You must also indicate your belief as to why that anomaly occurred. (i.e. Because drivers of multi-person vans are often focused on picking up multiple individuals, those individuals may not have the time to focus on reading the poster. Additionally, these drivers may be paid drivers and not parents, and parents may be more interested in school affairs that drivers.)
- What are 3 general observations you have made about "experiences" this week?
- These observations can be personal, emotional, anything.
- Unlike trends, these observations can occur just once.
- What are 3 trends that you have noticed in how people "interact" with information?
Activity Duration and Due Date
- You will start this activity on July 14th, 2011. This blog will be reviewed periodically and without warning. However, all entries must be submitted to your blob by September 8th.
- Each week, you will be responsible for adding 3 trends, 3 anomalies and 3 observations to your blog.
- After 9 weeks, you will be responsible for documenting at least 27 trends, 27 anomalies and 27observations.
- I will periodically call on you during class to present your TAOs. Failure to share your work will result in a lower grade.
- I will regularly check your blog to assess your work.
- Your blog should have "Comments enabled" so that I can provide feedback to your work.
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