1. Raising Awareness for Usability Across the Nation CAPCHI.org Presented by Alfredo Coppola Chief Usability Strategist Venture Communications

2. Outline  My role as Vice-Chair of CAPCHI  What matters now in the new, New Economy?  The Usability Expert as Facilitator  Usability & Government Online (GOL)  Winning techniques for research, design and testing - let’s hear them!

3. My role as Vice Chair  To raise awareness about usability overall;  To act as a lobbyist - ensuring that policy makers within government and other industry associations are well-equipped to implement intelligent integration of design and technology;  I will need your help…

4. What matters now in the new, New Economy?

5. What matters now in the new, New Economy? Accountability. “The recent market downturn has put growing pressure on Web companies to perform…” “Investors are demanding accountability and they’re expecting usability practices to help them find it.” - Dianne See Morrison, Independent Digital (UK), March 2001

6. What matters now in the new, New Economy? The End-User! “We admit that our company does not devote enough time studying consumers vs. the amount of time and money spent studying our technology” - Brian O'Shaugnessy, VP Technology Development, Bell Mobility

7. What matters now in the new, New Economy? Usability! Why? Reduces risk Saves time/money in the long-run It offers tangible, measurable criteria to make sound design decisions It makes good business sense e.g. Aer Lingus

8. The Usability Expert as Facilitator

9. Design Process: Conventional way Design Team Project Manager Web Development Team Client

10. The Usability Expert as Facilitator Design Process: UCD way Design Team End-Users Project Manager Client Web Development Team Usability Expert

11. Usability & Government Online (GOL)

12.  There are tremendous opportunities in this area to pursue – the government needs lots of help;  Project managers lack experience to make informed choices on:  how to evaluate capabilities of consultants  how to blend internal/external resources from varying disciplines  measuring success

13. Usability & Government Online (GOL)  Phase one was completed earlier this year  Established ‘Common Look and Feel’ guidelines  For many departments a ‘TOPICS’ approach to information architecture was chosen  Good for 2nd and 3rd-level navigation, however, personalization will be required to address diverse audience segments. Where they’re at now

14. Usability & Government Online (GOL)  One size doesn’t fit all  As skill levels rise and as Web best practices change, they've got to stay ahead of the game.  Usability must be a routine aspect of site maintenance and renewal, and new techniques are needed to cut the costs and speed up delivery. Treasury Board has been informed

15. Winning Techniques for Conducting Research, Design & Testing

16. Tricks, Tips, Dos & Don’ts Be predictable and obvious Think ‘useful’ – design in support of accomplishing user tasks Follow conventions (e.g. – traffic light) Give users starting points Integrate copy like a conversation in transactive areas Write concise, objective & easily scanned copy Thou shalt:

17. Tricks, Tips, Dos & Don’ts Expect the user to figure it out Expect users to change for you Make users sit through a ‘groovy Flash intro’ Create obstacles for users, e.g. - “This site works best with Flash 5.0” Pollute the user – e.g. lots of photos of smiling people Conduct a focus group 2 weeks before launch Thou shalt NOT:

18. Winning Techniques for Conducting Research, Design & Testing  Share your most recent experiences!

19. Contact me: Alfredo Coppola Chief Usability Strategist Venture Communications alfredo@openminds.ca 613-241-4000