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To design an easy-to-use interface, pay attention to what users do, not what they say. Self-reported claims are unreliable, as are user speculations about future behavior.
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To discover which designs work best, watch users as they attempt to perform tasks with the user interface.
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- Watch what people actually do.
- Do not believe what people say they do.
- Definitely don't believe what people predict they may do in the future.
the basic rules of usability:
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In speculative surveys, people are simply guessing how they might act or which features they'll like; it doesn't meant they'll actually use or like them in real life.
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When should you collect preference data from users? Only after they have used a design and have a real feeling for how well it supports them.
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The more a design supports users in easily and efficiently doing what they want to do, the more they like the design
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- In answering questions (particularly in a focus group), people bend the truth to be closer to what they think you want to hear or what's socially acceptable.
- In telling you what they do, people are really telling you what they remember doing. Human memory is very fallible, especially regarding the small details that are crucial for interface design. Users cannot remember some details at all, such as interface elements that they didn't see.
- In reporting what they do remember, people rationalize their behavior. Countless times I have heard statements like "I would have seen the button if it had been bigger." Maybe. All we know is that the user didn't see the button.
when collecting preference data, you must take human nature into account. When talking about past behavior, users self-reported data is typically three steps removed from the truth:
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Finally, you must consider how and when to solicit feedback. Although it might be tempting to simply post a survey online, you're unlikely to get reliable input (if you get any at all). Users who see the survey and fill it out before they've used the site will offer irrelevant answers. Users who see the survey after they've used the site will most likely leave without answering the questions
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One question that does work well in a website survey is "Why are you visiting our site today?" This question goes to users' motivation and they can answer it as soon as they arrive.
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Your best bet in soliciting reliable feedback is to have a captive audience: Conduct formal testing and ask users to fill out a survey at the end. With techniques like paper prototyping, you can test designs and question users without implementing a thing. Following these basic usability rules and methods will help you ensure that your design is truly as cool as it looks.
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The world is littered with failed businesses that banked on people's attitude toward hypothetical products and services.
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pangur pangurTo design an easy-to-use interface, pay attention to what users do, not what they say. Self-reported claims are unreliable, as are user speculations about future behavior.
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30 Mar 09
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18 Feb 09
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- Watch what people actually do.
- Do not believe what people say they do.
- Definitely don't believe what people predict they may do in the future.
Of course, there are many ways to watch and many tricks to running an optimal user test or field study. But ultimately, the way to get user data boils down to the basic rules of usability:
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Simone Economo"To design an easy-to-use interface, pay attention to what users do, not what they say. Self-reported claims are unreliable, as are user speculations about future behavior."
usability reports testing webdesign webdev jacob nielsen for:checkm
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Erich FeldmeierDon't listen to users, have a look ovr their shoulder
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