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Re: Design of GUI/Web Application Interfaces -- UIE's Web SiteUsability Report
Subject:Re: Design of GUI/Web Application Interfaces -- UIE's Web SiteUsability Report From:Kris Olberg <kjolberg -at- IX -dot- NETCOM -dot- COM> Date:Sat, 12 Jul 1997 15:34:06 -0500
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> From: Eric J. Ray <ejray -at- RAYCOMM -dot- COM>
> To: TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
>
> Anyone else have any usability data about Web sites
> you'd care to share?
I just received UIE's book in the mail. As you said, it's a short read
although I haven't had time yet.
A web site that I worked on plus another piece of software just went
through usability testing at ULAB in Atlanta. The piece of software,
written in Java, "shells out" to my web site to perform a few transactions.
Here are some of the things we found:
1. Scrolling is high risk, especially horizontal scrolling. It can help to
have something like graphics or words appear "cut off" at the side or
bottom of the window to cue the user that there's more.
2. Lack of feedback during time-intensive system operations is high risk.
The Java application didn't put up and hourglass while running some db
queries, causing the test subjects to click again, and again, and again,
... This caused the application to perform the query for each click. In one
case, the test subject had opened over 20 windows. It's funny the machine
didn't crash.
3. "Shelling out" from the Java application to a browser is high risk. When
Netscape opened up, we found the users trying to use the Netscape toolbar
to perform functions only relevant to the Java application. (We're now
learning how to configure Netscape on the launch.)
4. "If you want users to see something, put it in red." -- Loren Burke,
ULAB founder and principal owner
Regards...Kris
-------------------------
kolberg -at- actamed -dot- com
kris -at- olberg -dot- com
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