Web Usability Training Workshop

Nowadays many people use digital technology in their everyday activities; including work, leisure and social life. It is more likely that you regularly use some kind of a computer, a smart telephone or tablet computer.

Some websites and mobile applications are widely perceived as easy and enjoyable to use, while some others can be frustrating and sometimes really annoying.

What's the point of an attractive website or application if

it´s not clear what it can be used for
it´s not easy to use
users do not feel good while using it (frustrated, annoyed, stressed …)

The main issue is how to design web and mobile applications so that they are actually easy to learn how to use, easy to use, effective, efficient and enjoyable to use.

Website designers should be aware of how important is to make sure that any website is usable and the intended users would be satisfied to use it. It is indeed important to ensure that the users are happy to not only visit your website, but also keep using it.

Aim of the workshop

This workshop aims to present theory and practical techniques to support design and development of usable websites.

Participants learn about the concepts of usability and user experience and their importance in website design. Methods and techniques of usability testing and evaluation are explored through groupwork, lectures and hands-on exercises. The workshop is concluded with a short report on website usability test.

Format

This half-day workshop includes a series of mini-lectures combined with hands-on group exercises to practice the learned concepts, methods and techniques.

The training encourages participants to build on their experiences and use websites of their choice for the exercises.Using a problem based learning approach, participants are actively working on real world problems with the support from our usability experts.

Bring your laptop

Having your own laptop will help to do the exercises in class.

Study guide

Time	Content	Student activities (Learning tasks)	Resources	Learning Outcomes (Competence)
09:00	Introduction: Why web usability matters	Login to Canvas VLE Visit 3 websites Discuss with another student the primary goal of each website (2 min)	Lecture slides http://igihe.com http://www.irembo.rw http://www.reg.rw	Recognise the importance of usability engineering in web design
09:10	Usability and user experience concepts	Learn what is website usability and user experience Define in your own words "usability and user experience" Take the user experience quiz	Lecture slides Nielsen, J. (2012). Usability 101: Introduction to Usability.	Describe usability, user experience and interpret their significance for web designers
09:30	Website design guidelines	Review web design guidelines suggested by Google	Lecture slides	Identify key elements of a good web design
09:40	Break
09:50	User testing exercise	Participate in user testing (as a test user)	Lecture slides Computer /Tablet/smartphone	Criticise website design with a focus on usability and user experience
10:10	Usability testing methods & techniques	Learn usability testing methods Performance metrics User experience questionnaires (SUS & NPS) Discuss one of the methods with another student	Lecture slides	Appraise and compare different usability testing methods
10:30	Break
10:40	Hands-on website usability testing exercise	Create a usability test plan Conduct website usability testing	Lecture slides Computer /Tablet/smartphone	Plan usability testing; carry out usability test for websites
11:40	Website usability evaluation and analysis	Write a short usability report Usability and ROI	Computer /Tablet/smartphone	Present and explain usability test results
11:55	Wrap-up	Discuss in group what you find most interesting in this workshop Discuss in group what could be improved in a workshop like this	Computer /Tablet/smartphone	Evaluate a usability workshop
12:00	Lunch

Recommended literature

Nielsen, J. (2012). Usability 101: Introduction to Usability. Online: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/usability-101-introduction-to-usability/
Leavitt, Michael O., and Shneiderman, B. (2006). "Research-based web design & usability guidelines." US Department of Health and Human Services . Online: https ://www.usability.gov/sites/default/files/documents/guidelines_book.pdf
Usability testing. Online: http ://www.usabilityfirst.com/usability-methods/usability-testing /
Cockton, G. Usability evaluation. Online: https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/book/the-encyclopedia-of-human-computer-interaction-2nd-ed/usability-evaluation
Interaction design: https://www.usability.gov/what-and-why/interaction-design.html
User-Experience Quiz: 2016 UX Year in Review. Online:https://www.nngroup.com/articles/ux-quiz/
Nielsen, J., Loranger, H. (2006). Prioritizing Web Usability. New Riders, Berkley, CA, USA.
Krug, S. (2014). Don´t make me think revisited: A common sense approach to web and mobile usability. New Riders.
Benyon, D. (2014). Designing Interactive Systems: A comprehensive guide to HCI, UX and interaction design. 3rd Ed, Pearson Education Ltd,, Edinburgh, UK.
Reiss, E. (2012). Usable Usability. John Wiley & Sons Inc.
Rohrer, C. (2014). When to use which user-experience research methods. Online: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/which-ux-research-methods/
ISO, ‘ISO 9241 Part 210: Human-centred design for interactive systems’, in ISO 9241 Ergonomics of human system interaction, (2010)