Web interfaces and usability
Jens Backlund · 2001
The masters project described in this thesis includes designing an interface for a Web site and doing usability tests at three different occasions. The designing process was based in the findings from a prior study [Backlund, 2000], design guidelines and checklists and the experience of the interface designer, who also is the author of this masters thesis. Three different methods were used for the usability tests. The Web site that was created is a job site where the users can search for job postings, post their CVs etc. When designing the interface, the designer tried to follow general guidelines. There are different types of guidelines, some are detailed and can be applied without thinking and the most general, for example Shneidermans eight golden rules [Shneiderman, 1998], apply to all situations but require an analysis of the actual situation. There were three sets of usability test during the process and in between those, some small usability test were made when the designer felt insecure about which solution to choose. In this study the interface designer also did all programming too, which distracted him some from concentrating on the interface. When doing a usability test the test user should be matching the target group profile as closely as possible, in this case be interested in his or her own career. If the observer is the one who created the interface it is best if the test user does not know this and the observer must be able to take negative critique. Persons with a close relation to the observer should not be chosen as test users since it might have the affect that the test user is not honest in his or her feedback. The one thing that was found to give best feedback is for test users to talk out loud. If the test user can do this and feel comfortab...