© 2012 IBM Corporation Toshiba Burns-Johnson and Cheryl D. Loughlin 2012 Enterprise Computing Community Conference at Marist College Usability Study: The Key Ingredient in Designing Effective Help Systems

© 2012 IBM Corporation2 Repurposing an iPAD: What a clever idea!

© 2012 IBM Corporation3 Agenda Purpose and perceptions of help systems Introduction to our study Method for conducting our study Results of our study Benefits of conducting a usability study Resources

© 2012 IBM Corporation4 What’s the purpose of a help system?

© 2012 IBM Corporation5 Purpose of a help system  Translates software function into tasks that users understand  Teaches users concepts required to perform tasks  Familiarizes users with the user interface  Addresses the information needs of a diverse audience  Helps users resolve error conditions

© 2012 IBM Corporation6 Do you use help?

© 2012 IBM Corporation7 Impact of negative perceptions of help systems Under Utilization of Help Systems Negative External Views Negative Internal Views Decreased Enthusiasm in Help System Development

© 2012 IBM Corporation8 Agenda Purpose and perceptions of help systems Introduction to our study Method for conducting our study Results of our study Benefits of conducting a usability study Resources

© 2012 IBM Corporation9 Introduction: The usability study  What is it? –A controlled experiment where users are observed using a product or help system to determine the effectiveness and efficiency of the design in terms of human interaction and satisfaction.  Why use it? –To validate the design of a product or help system –To uncover unexpected user behaviors –To uncover unforeseen problems –To learn users' expectations

© 2012 IBM Corporation10  Modernizes the “face” of z/OS  Provides an integrated help system  Makes z/OS accessible to a new generation of system programmers  Reduces z/OS complexity Introduction: IBM ® z/OS ® Management Facility (z/OSMF)

© 2012 IBM Corporation11 Introduction: The help system

© 2012 IBM Corporation12 Agenda Purpose and perceptions of help systems Introduction to our study Method for conducting our study Results of our study Benefits of conducting a usability study Resources

© 2012 IBM Corporation13 Method: Demographics n = 9

© 2012 IBM Corporation14 Method: Creating user scenarios  Identified actions that require support of the help system  Created 28 questions that users might have while completing each action  Incorporated the 28 questions into 10 task-based user scenarios

© 2012 IBM Corporation15 Method: Sample user scenario User Interface: Define a new desktop and add a metric to the desktop. This desktop should contain only generic sysplex resources. Help: What’s the benefit of defining generic sysplex resources?

© 2012 IBM Corporation16 Method: Conducting feedback sessions The participants:  Accessed the software directly  Navigated to the page where they would complete the user interface portion of the scenario  Accessed the help system from that page to answer the help portion of the scenario  Verbalized their thoughts as they completed each task

© 2012 IBM Corporation17 Method: Conducting feedback sessions We, the researchers:  Conducted the review with one participant at a time  Imposed no time limit for completing the scenarios  Emphasized that we were testing the help system, not the participant  Documented the completion rate and any errors or problems identified

© 2012 IBM Corporation18 Method: Categorizing and prioritizing issues Each issue was assigned a:  Category –Help System, User Interface, or Both  Problem type –Clarity, Conciseness, Structure, or Missing Content  Priority –Low, Medium, or High  Resolution complexity level –Easy, Moderate, or Difficult

© 2012 IBM Corporation19 Agenda Purpose and perceptions of help systems Introduction to our study Method for conducting our study Results of our study Benefits of conducting a usability study Resources

© 2012 IBM Corporation20 Results: Types of issues identified n = 42

© 2012 IBM Corporation21 Results: Example issues Impact AreaProblem TypeExample of Issues Help System StructureParticipants reported that paragraphs are more difficult to scan than tables, lists, and section headers. ConcisenessParticipants reported that there was too much text overall. User Interface ClarityParticipants identified icons that were unclear. Both StructureParticipants reported that it was unclear how to suppress messages.

© 2012 IBM Corporation22 Results: Priority of issues identified PriorityExample of Issues LowParticipants reported not being aware that the help system was context sensitive. MediumParticipants had a difficult time locating other help topics that were related to a specific topic. HighParticipants reported that the help topics were long and verbose. n = 42

© 2012 IBM Corporation23 Results: Complexity of resolutions Complexity LevelExample of Resolutions EasyAdd concise text to the help system or interface to clarify an icon, an action, or a dependency between tasks. ModerateSimplify help topics so that they address only one concept. DifficultRestructure the entire help system so that it doesn’t require users to know what page they are on in the interface. n = 42

© 2012 IBM Corporation24 Agenda Purpose and perceptions of help systems Introduction to our study Method for conducting our study Results of our study Benefits of conducting a usability study Resources

© 2012 IBM Corporation25 What are the benefits of conducting a usability study of a help system?

© 2012 IBM Corporation26 Benefits of conducting a usability study of a help system  Improve the help system  Improve the usability of the software  Increase the accessibility of the software  Identify additional user requirements  Increase customer satisfaction  Reduce customer calls to technical support

© 2012 IBM Corporation27 Ultimate benefit: Positive perceptions of help systems Increased Utilization of Help Systems Positive External Views Positive Internal Views Increased Enthusiasm in Help System Development

© 2012 IBM Corporation28 Agenda Purpose and perceptions of help systems Introduction to our study Method for conducting our study Results of our study Benefits of conducting a usability study Resources

© 2012 IBM Corporation29 Questions

© 2012 IBM Corporation30 Resources  User Centered Design at IBM –  IBM z/OS Management Facility –Web Site –Modernizing the Mainframe article –Demos topic=/com.ibm.iea.zosmf/plugin_coverpage.htmlhttp://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/ieduasst/stgv1r0/index.jsp? topic=/com.ibm.iea.zosmf/plugin_coverpage.html