Re: [Usability] [Yet Another] New File Chooser Design

[Nadyne Mielke <nmielke acm org>]

(I know I'm coming to this discussion rather late.  Since I'm so late, 
I'm not going to address the design itself, but a couple of larger 
points.)

On Wednesday, February 25, 2004, at 07:20 AM, Luke Hutchison wrote:

[snip]

> So -- is it possible that usability guidelines can be violated, when
> actual user tests indicate that breaking some rule actually makes an
> application more usable and intuitive to the user?

UI guidelines are just that: guidelines.  They aren't hard and fast 
rules.  Sometimes guidelines don't apply.  With well-written guidelines 
that have a lot of user data backing them up, the guidelines only tend 
to break down on special cases.

But you need real user tests to back up that your design actually is 
'more usable and intuitive to the user'.  Which brings us to the next 
point ...

[snip]

> If anyone else thinks this is a good idea, I would be interested to see
> some tests (I'm not a usability engineer, so others would probably do a
> better job running these tests).

IMHO, you don't need to be a usability engineer to run a usability 
test.  Running a basic user test really isn't that difficult.  I do 
appreciate that you think it is difficult -- that makes people more 
likely to hire me if they think that what I do for a living is really 
really hard and mere mortals can't even consider doing it.  ;)

If you're interested in learning how to conduct your own usability 
test, I recommend _Usability Testing and Research_ by Carol Barnum.  
It's a good handbook for learning how to design, run, and report on a 
usability test, including several examples of all steps of the process 
from groups of students in her usability classes over the years.

ObDisclaimer: Dr Barnum was one of my professors when I was a graduate 
student.  She was just starting this book when I was her student.  I 
believe that she has produced the best introductory handbook on this 
subject in quite a few years, replacing the now-outdated Dumas and 
Redish book.  I lend my copy to new interns if they haven't seen it 
already, and they've all reported that they find it quite useful (which 
means they either really did like it, or they're kissing up).  But if 
you think I'm biased, then you'll probably want to check out the D&R 
book, titled _A Practical Guide to Usability Testing_.

/nm