Re: Improving user through put of online forms

Excellent post on improving user throughput and reducing error rates for
online forms.
I am literally banging my head on my desk as I have been advocating for the
use of radio button controls for static choices (example Yes  No).

The business logic and the developers' logic however is that:

1.  they want drop down boxes for static options because by putting it in a
drop down box, with --Select-- as the default, they will force the user to
choose an option, whereas if they use radio buttons, one radio button will
be a default, and the users may just want to go the easy route.
2. --Populating the drop down boxes with --Select-- meets accessibility
compliance
3.  Drop down boxes look better visually!

I would love to hear how others have handled this type of argument when the
user groups for the same interface are Call Centre Operators  and  Front
line tellers (with a high turnover rate). Completely different context of
use.
Thanks in advance.

Helen
On Thu, Dec 4, 2008 at 5:20 PM, Caroline Jarrett <
[email protected]> wrote:

> Matthew Belge
> <snip: description of high-usage forms>
> >
> > My question: Has anything been done for this type of user to help improve
> their throughput and reduce error rates?
>
> <snip - some suggestions>
>
> Hi Matthew
>
> I'm away from my library right now but if you look back in the literature,
> you will find that this was very much the focus of a lot of usability/HCI
> work in the 1980s and early 1990s.
>
> Here are some more tips for making high-usage forms efficient:
> - carefully analyse which fields are in fact used a lot and which are used
> a
> little. Try to cram as many high-usage fields as possible onto as few
> screens as possible. The resultant screens will be horrible to look at and
> difficult to learn, but once learned they should be more efficient
>
> - if users are interrupted or have any other reason why they need to swap
> from one record to another, have some way of making this easy to do at high
> speed. I saw one system with a 'suspend' feature that allowed you to be
> working on two records at once.
>
> - ensure that the entire suite of forms can be totally accessed using
> keyboard only, and preferably using keypad only. For example, ensure that
> 'Enter' will take you to the next field (available on keypad) not just
> 'Tab'.
>
> - analyse the actual data to provide as many defaults as possible.
>
> - limit dropdowns to the most likely entries plus 'other' to expand to less
> likely entries
>
> - brush off your older techniques such as task analysis to find out exactly
> what keystrokes are required for the most common transactions. Look for
> places where the task flow can be optimised to remove keystrokes
>
> - most of all: go and watch the users with their current applications and
> real task load. They may have found all sorts of workarounds that you can
> make easier for them.
>
> And a word of caution: As in any other system, 80% of their work will come
> from 20% of calls where they've got the whole thing memorised, right down
> to
> things like keying or mousing ahead to where screens will be in a moment
> when they've loaded. Interfering with that MAY bring benefits but will also
> cause a short-term drop in productivity while they adjust to the new
> screens.
>
> Anecdote: I did some observations in a call centre a few years ago. I
> watched an expert user (two years experience) deal with a call in less than
> 4 minutes. I watched a very similar call dealt with by a novice user: 14
> minutes. The expert totally multitasked in many different applications,
> moved her mouse to where the next click would be ahead of the screen
> appearing, and never had to use any thought to make any decision on the
> computer: all her attention was on the customer. The novice actually had to
> read the screens and make decisions about them.
>
> Best
> Caroline Jarrett
>
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