EHSLibrary » usability

Report on iPad usability

Todd Vandenbark — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 22:25:56 +0000

According to the blog ReadWriteWeb, web usability expert Jakob Nielsen has published a report about how people are using iPads. This is a follow-up report to his first usability study of the iPad a year ago, and it provides details about strengths and problems with the device. Nielsen reports that both versions of the iPad work well with websites as long as any tasks users had to complete on a given website weren’t too complicate. For many apps, touchable areas are just too small and not easy to use, with some not even looking touchable. And when there are multiple items on the same screen that can be manipulated with swiping, there are ambiguity problems with it.

The Eccles Library has purchased a number of eReaders (iPads, nooks, Kindles) for patrons to learn about and experiment with, and will be made available to the public after our staff have been trained on them. Stay tuned…

Another great Mayden Lecture

Todd Vandenbark — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 20:52:37 +0000

On Monday, April 18, 2011, Amanda Etches-Johnson gave the 2011 Priscilla M. Mayden Lecture on the topic “From Usability to User Experience.” Designing websites, she explains, should focus not on what the software does, but on what the user does with it. Important design questions to ask include:

How easy is this site to learn?
How efficiently can end users complete their desired tasks?
How easy will it be to come back to this site again later and remember how to use it?
How quickly can the user and site together recover from errors?

If we can understand how the user experiences our site, we can design it to better meet their needs.

Etches-Johnson pointed out that at the core, an academic library website is a research tool, and she advocates that it should focus on frequently asked questions or sought-for types of resources. She also reviewed how one writes for the web; rather than pages loaded with lots of words, they:

should be written in an active voice,
can use short sentences or fragments, and
are only as strong as the weakest feature.

Missed the lecture but want to learn more? Links to the Watch the video of the 2011 Mayden lecture, or browse Ms. Etches-Johnson’s slides.

2011 Priscilla M. Mayden Lecture

Todd Vandenbark — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 23:33:05 +0000

Amanda Etches-Johnson is the guest speaker for the Priscilla M. Mayden Lecture on April 18, 2011. Her talk is titled, “From Usability to User Experience,” and it will focus differences between usability and user experience (UX) in web design for websites. Johnson supports the concept that visiting a website should be “a delightful experience,” and her talk will will provide attendees with ideas and insights into ways to incorporate UX design principles into their interface and web development workflows.

Schedule:

When: Monday, April 18, 2011
Time: 12:30 p.m. Mountain Time
Where: HSEB 2110

This lecture and webcast is free thanks to funds from the Priscilla M. Mayden endowment, and is presented by the Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library. More information on this lecture series is available on our library website, including a link to the webcast. A reception with light refreshments will follow, and the public is welcome.