CANVAS Layout and Style for Usability

Aspects of Usability Content Importance, Necessity Aesthetic Interesting, evokes desired emotion Organization Leads reader Navigation Sensible Accuracy/Completeness Name, position, phone number Correctness Grammar, punctuation Communication Coherent, clear Consistency Titles, font & size, alignment Usability refers to the ease with which users interact with site content. It includes:

Layout oco/choco_wireframe.png architecture/ Simple wireframes provide a template for organizing information. Consider your wireframe as a point of reference and not a hard-and-fast framework. Your finished site may not look exactly like the wireframe you create.

Aligning your message with user needs and tracking the location of content is important (particularly for large sites) for two reasons. First, it provides a visual aid for organization and, second, it helps with site maintenance especially if someone other than the site administrator changes. Your Canvas site may not be multilayered, but the principle is still applicable. Alignment and Tracking Alignment Tracking

Tracking content locations: When you name a page (Home in the example), the name does not show in the user’s view, so knowing where specific information is stored in the site can be a timesaver when you need to make a change or addition. For Example…

Style Guide Typeface Heading and Paragraph Fonts Built in Point size, Color Adjust for emphasis (but don’t overdo it) Alignment Bullets and indents Naming conventions Consistent, Concise Photos/Images Focus, Placement, Message A style guide helps large organizations normalize the aesthetic across departments and maintain brand identity. OMC can provide a specific style guide, but using built in style elements is usually a safe bet and can help simplify the design process. Stylistic considerations include:

General Information Each site should include: Information about the role of your group or organization (“About…”) Top of page Contact information (name(s), phone, , building, campus, etc.) Bottom of the home page Usability also describes user expectations. Most users expect to find a description of the organization on the landing (home) page, and contact information either at the bottom of the page or the bottom of the left navigation.

Assessing User Experience (UX) User Experience Do elements work as expected? Can users navigate as desired? Does it maintain user interest (aesthetic and function)? Do users know who to contact if they have questions? Usability Testing Designer test Double-check each element Controlled audience test Someone you know Public audience test Request feedback We all want users to have a pleasant experience on our site. To this end, users need to be able to find the information they are seeking in an aesthetically pleasing environment that makes sense to them. Users tend to avoid sites that do not function as expected. To aid this process, site designers will want to assess UX by asking and answering questions during the design phase. Then, follow up with usability testing.