Welcome to
the current issue of our periodic e-publication. The articles in this
issue include:
· ROU = Return on Usability
· Talking Points: The Out Of Box Experience
· "You're Not Going to Believe This!" The "county" field
ROU = Return on Usability
Usability engineering - and a user-centered design approach - should NOT be undertaken in order to be a "good citizen." Rather, usability engineering is a GOOD BUSINESS DECISION.
The return
on investment for your usability engineering dollar and hour - that is,
your ROU (Return on Usability) - is typically robust and demonstrable.
In a ROU analysis, the costs are relatively easy to calculate, while the benefits are often tougher. But those benefits accrue to all concerned when it comes to Web site or traditional user interface design.
For example, in a user-centered design approach, the development team realizes efficiencies, as problems are identified early, when they are cheaper to fix. The customer support team realizes a reduced call support burden. The customer realizes increased throughput.
And, last but certainly not least, increased sales result when users find the product or Web site easier to use. This has high impact because studies show sales of subsequent follow-on products increase with customer loyalty that results from a good purchase experience.
For example, take the usability evaluation that Austin Usability performed for the Web site of a leading car rental company.
Normally, it is very difficult to accurately measure the effectiveness of implementing changes recommended because of what is referred to in the business as "confounds." These are externalities represented by changes that a company makes, such changes in the marketing program, or added sales promotions, etc.
For this client, however, there were no changes made other than the usability changes that were recommended. Starting the first day that our usability improvements were implemented, the client realized a minimum $50,000 per day increase in e-revenues.
This example
focused on increased sales driving the ROU formula. In future editions,
we'll focus on the measurable results coming from the other benefits of
ROU, Return on Usability.
top
Talking Points - The Out Of Box Experience
In each issue of "Talking Points," we present a specific usability method, for which we provide a definition, an explanation of use, and some key points to assist you in making the case for its need in your own organization.
WHAT: An out-of-box experience (OOBE) is what a customer has when he or she opens a computer, PDA, toaster, shrink-wrapped software, or, for that matter, a box of M&Ms.
This experience can be a good one, if the M&Ms are easy to open and tasty once eaten. Or it can be a poor one, if the packaging is too difficult to remove, if the computer is too hard to cable-up, or if for whatever reason the user cannot use the product, quickly and easily, for the tasks for which it was purchased.
WHY: An OOBE test is an example of a test where real users are observed and measured as they confront a box, extract the contents, and start to use them, just as they might at home or at work.
This out-of-box experience can be easy or it can be impossible, or anywhere in between. Even if all the needed cables are in the box, even if there are no software defects, even if SOME people can figure out how to get started, if the hardware/device set-up or the software install and configuration are difficult for the end-user, the product can fail.
TALKING POINTS: An OOBE test with real users can be a very valuable evaluation to undertake. Here are some points to make with your management and team:
1. Commonly, the problem with an out-of-box experience is that the people who put the box together tend to be VERY familiar with the contents of the box. Whereas the person opening the box is likely doing so for the first time.
2. It is important for the product development team to NOT depend on their intuitions as to what is an easy out-of-box experience. Rather, it should be empirically determined whether a start-up procedure is easy for the first-timer. Data should be collected, such as performance data (e.g., time on task, error rates, number of calls to the help desk, number of references to the help documentation), satisfaction data (do the users LIKE the set-up procedure?), and particular usability problems data (e.g., error flows the users tend to select).
3. An OOBE is a very effective way to collect baseline data for a current product, or a competitive product, against which to compare future designs. Such baseline and comparative data are tremendously valuable, in driving towards a design that customers will find usable, and embrace.
4. The set-up of an unbiased, valid test and then the statistical analysis of the data gathered during an OOBE are critical to success of the test. While it can be learned, using a professional or a firm that has experience can save time and money and greatly improve the results of the effort.
top
You're
Not Going to Believe This!
Requiring the "County" field for an e-commerce purchase
This issue's "You're not going to believe this!" is another in a series of examples that makes one wonder "why someone would 'go live' with a Web site before testing it with real users?"
Recently we went to an e-commerce site to buy a gift for a friend in another city. We decided to go to a specialty "shop" (site). We found a product we wanted, put it in our shopping cart, and started to check out. We started entering our friend's address, and were dismayed to find that the COUNTY field was a required field.
There are 254 counties in Texas alone. In the Austin metropolitan statistical area (or MSA), there are 5 counties, which a highly informal poll around the office resulted in only 1 out 2 people being able to name them all.
Now imagine your friend is in another region of the country, another city, another state. Can you name the state's capital, much less the county your friend lives in?
Here are our thoughts on this poor example of usability:
- What are the chances that one would know the county a friend lives in?- Given that the site required the ZIP code of the recipient, the vendor could quite easily have done a table look-up on the county, had they bothered to NOT burden us, the customer,
- What are the chances of a lost sale in this transaction? (As well as every other sale for which the buyer did not know the recipient's county?)
We all make
mistakes. (We've made our share!) Let's all learn from each other. Send
examples to "You're not going to believe this!" at info@austinusability.com
It must be documented from an existing web site or software product and
verifiable.
top
Subscription Information
If you would
like to receive our monthly e-newsletters, send an email to psnewsletter@perceptivesciences.com
with SUBSCRIBE in the subject line.
