No matter what you’re developing, there’s a user-centered way of doing it. Users should be considered throughout the website design process. Usability should not be an afterthought. Testing and fixing a website after it has been built is inefficient and unlikely to produce optimal results. The best approach to take is to incorporate a model of “pervasive usability” into your design and production process.
Evaluation occurs at every stage of the process. Similar types of evaluation can occur at different stages of the design process to keep in mind the goals of the project and the users’ needs. And if it comes down to a choice, reduce the scope of the project rather than the usability goals.
The benefits of planning usability into your project are:
* Increased user satisfaction
* Increased user productivity, success, and completion
* Reduced long-term development costs (costs incurred from fixing poorly designed products)
* Reduced training and support costs
* Return business to improve your competitiveness
A Model of Pervasive Usability in Website Design
1. Requirements Analysis
* Identify stakeholders, and understand their roles as they pertain to the project.
* Determine the goals for the website from the perspective of the user and the business.
* Determine the user needs and target usability requirements.
* Evaluate existing versions of the site, noting legacy features.
* Perform a competitive analysis.
* Perform user interviews and surveys.
2. Conceptual Design
* Create a Content Inventory to account for all expected site content.
* Sketch out a site design and architecture at an abstract level.
* Build low-fidelity Wireframes for various pages of the website to initiate design discussions, and conduct user testing.
* Conduct a task analysis to discover critical user needs and preferences.
* Based on user research analyses, model the user experience and then specify requirements for usability, user experience, functionality, data, the environment, and accessibility.
3. Mockups/Prototypes
* Create a Site Map Diagram based on usability requirements to depict the website’s optimal navigation and organization.
* Choose an HCI design approach (Anthropomorphic, Cognitive, Predictive Modeling, or Empirical) for your prototype.
* Rapidly create visual representations (mockups) or interactive representations (prototypes) of the site.
* Evaluate usability through focus groups, user tests, and walkthroughs.
* Use the evaluation results to create more mockups or improve the prototypes.
* Repeat this process (design iteration) until the design and usability goals are met.
4. Production
* Collaborate with visual designers to develop high fidelity Prototypes and Screen Designs with actual content.
* Create the final product.
* Evaluate functionality through testing, quality assurance, usability testing, and field-testing.
* Use the evaluation results to improve the product.
* Repeat this process (production iteration) and perform Quality Assurance Testing until all specified requirements have been met, including: business, visual design, usability, user experience, and technical functionality requirements.
5. Launch and Maintenance
* Launch the website.
* Maintain and refine with user feedback.
* Use the feedback to create new requirements, and begin major design improvements (system iteration).
Remember, evaluation occurs at every stage of the process to keep the goals of the project and the users’ needs in focus. And if it comes down to a choice, don’t sacrifice usability; reduce the scope of the project instead.
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