Weekly User Testing: TiVo Did It, You Can, Too

Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox for July 28 is now online at:
  > http://www.useit.com/alertbox/weekly-usability-tests.html

Summary:
TiVo ran 12 user tests in 12 weeks while designing its new website. As
TiVo's experience shows, frequent and regular testing keeps the design
usability focused.

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User Experience 2008 conference

  > Chicago, November 2-7
  > Amsterdam, November 16-21

In-depth training:
  > 31 full-day tutorials

Keynote presentations:
  > Don Norman: Sociable Design
  > Chris Nodder: Usability for Evil

Full program:
  > http://www.nngroup.com/events

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ANNOUNCING THE USER EXPERIENCE 2008 CONFERENCE

Returning to Chicago and Amsterdam: great places to visit, great airline
connections.

New topics include:

  > integrating usability with Agile development
  > offshore usability
  > a specialized seminar on navigation design
  > making visual design and usability co-exist
  > user experience patterns and components
  > a day-long overview of recent research results
    ("we read the academic papers so you don't have to")

The seminar on complex applications has been extended to 2 days because
there was too much material to do this (complex!) topic justice in 1 day.

Plus, the most popular seminars from previous conferences return in
updated versions, covering anything from field research to Web metrics and
analytics. And we always have a course on the proper methodology for
effective user testing.

The highlight of the conference is Don Norman's preview of his forthcoming
book on sociable design. This is a plenary session, open to everybody, no
matter what days you otherwise attend.

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HOMEPAGE USABILITY BACK IN PRINT

My book "Homepage Usability" has been selling at a faster pace than the
publisher expected, so they ran out of inventory (which is a major
downside of non-electronic publishing). A fresh print run has been
produced and the book is available again from all major bookstores in the
United States. (In other countries, it will take about a month for the new
copies to be shipped over.)

  > http://www.useit.com/homepageusability

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NEW ONLINE READING SKILLS

Yesterday, The New York Times carried an extended article over two full
pages about the potential downsides of online reading:

 > http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/books/27reading.html

I read this article twice: Saturday on the website, where it was posted
early, and then Sunday morning in the printed paper. I got about twice as
much out of reading the printed version. This article was too long and
involved for online reading.

Among other things, the article includes a graphic about new skills for
online reading. This was prominent in the two-page layout in print, but
hidden away in a pop-up on the site. I completely overlooked the link to
the pop-up which was in an area dominated by less useful into, such as the
ability to make various photos bigger.

More about the benefits of a large-canvas layout for print communication:

  > http://www.useit.com/alertbox/990124.html

The hidden pop-up makes some interesting points. Reading online involves
additional skills:

  * searching: generating keywords, evaluating SERP hits
  * judging the credibility of multiple sources
  * synthesizing answers from multiple pieces of info

The article debates whether it's worth teaching these skills in schools or
whether kids will pick them up on their own. Last year, I came out in
favor of teaching the skills:

  > http://www.useit.com/alertbox/computer-skills.html

However, the most important point is not made in the Times article at all:

** The skills to make full use of the Web are beyond the vast majority of
the population. **

Only 13% of the population are at literacy level 4, which is defined as
the ability to synthesize across multiple pieces of info and to make
inferences. An even smaller percentage (about 5%) can make inferences
using complex background knowledge, which is often needed to judge
websites and to get full benefits from them.
	
Of course, the intelligentsia who debate these issues are all among the 5%
with superior skills - as are their offspring.

For most children, the situation is worse, since they have not yet
developed their research skills. When we actually observe average teens
trying to make sense of Web information, we mainly see them fail:

  > http://www.useit.com/alertbox/teenagers.html

All this said, of course it's tilting at windmills to expect students to
only read books and to lay off the Internet. Instead, we should recognize
that each media form has its strengths:

Linear media (books, seminars, video, theater) is good for deep learning
and artistic experience.

Non-linear media (the Web, networking during conference breaks) is good
for quick facts, breaking news, solutions-oriented research, and
superficial entertainment (from celebrity gossip to provocative
arguments).

Action items to improve the situation:

(1) Design websites for young kids and teens according to the special
guidelines for these audiences (very different for each age group):

  > http://www.nngroup.com/reports/kids
  > http://www.nngroup.com/reports/teens

(2) When targeting grownups, remember the 43% with lower literacy:

  > http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20050314.html

[Percentages are from the U.S. National Assessment of Adult Literacy.
Studies in other rich countries find the same distribution of literacy
skills within +/- 5%, which doesn't change my conclusion. These
international differences are likely due to the measurement uncertainty
when comparing reading studies across languages. There might be a small
effect from different countries' varying emphasis on special education,
but mainly the literacy levels in rich countries are determined by the
distribution of brain power, which is the same for all groups of human
beings, no matter where they were born.]