|
WebWord Weblog Posting Posting Date: September 25, 2002 Is it about time to put heuristic evaluation to rest? -- "At least 60-70 % of the usability problems predicted by it are not encountered by test users - depending on the evaluator. The case with computer science students evaluation results are even more discouraging (80-90 %). These were results from the HCI literature and from my own experiences. I would argue that the use of this kind of hit-and-miss method does no good to the usability of any product. It is just a good guess and in many cases not even a really educated guess." (Comments: Indirect credit goes to Ron Zeno. It is a few months old, but worth looking at again.)
Reader Comments...
Is usability floundering, or can people see any signs of maturity? At least we seem to have got over the 'question nothing' attitude. Posted by: Mac on September 26, 2002 05:11 AM
I've been thinking for a while that usability is on the decline. If nothing else, it is blending into other areas such as programming, marketing, and requirements engineering. Oh, and if you are interested in this topic, you should probably read Trouble in Paradise: Problems Facing the Usability Community. (Mac, what do you think of that URL?)
It continues to flounder... The bottom line: the influential professional organizations and individuals have placed themselves in positions where they benefit from the field's current and continued immaturity. Nothing will change until they face their hypocrisy.
As much as I'd like to think so, it's so rare as to be unnoticeable. Posted by: Ron Zeno on September 26, 2002 09:18 AM
Ron, I'm interested in hearing what the hypocrisy is and why it is so. You post very intelligent stuff. Do explain more. Do you think people like UPASSOC are useless? Posted by: Kung Pao on September 26, 2002 10:26 AM
Where are you living, guys? Usability is a very new thing in Portugal, so new that most people never heard about it but there's something that people know: a few years ago, computers, software applications and internet were much more difficult to use that they are now. Maybe in some places usability is not an issue anymore but I'd like you to think of how important is that we can use software applications that avoid human errors instead of promoting them.
I have just completed 2 HEs for customers. The value for me and for my customers is not to use as a 'stand alone' activity but as a *lead in* or *input* activity to prepare for usability testing with real users. All the smaller issues uncovered using an HE can hopefully uncover major use issues that you need to confirm via usability testing. On John's point think it has to be *sold in* as a supporting activity to all disciplines for a more refined product at the end. Posted by: daniel szuc on September 26, 2002 10:35 AM
Kung Pao: Don't you think that it is hypocritical for a professional organization to promote and depend upon the continued immaturity of their field? You mention UPA. What are they doing to advance the field, as opposed to just promoting it as it exists? John: There's no commonly accepted definition for "usability" and the notion of a "usability community" is a granfalloon. Without defining these terms well, it's hard to have a meaningful discussion about the problems of usability and/or the community. Daniel: Yes, I agree on the lead-in value, but are you really conducting heuristic evaluations, or are you just reviewing the products based upon your own expertise? Do you actually have a list of heuristics you work from? Posted by: Ron Zeno on September 26, 2002 11:45 AM
Simply, I agree... when empirical studies find that usability experts cannot agree on what are the major problems with a site AND then cannot determine what the impact will be from fixing certain things - many times making things worse - I, as a business owner shrug my shoulders and say.... so I guess I just use common sense. usability=accountability. Until this formula is realized, this industry will stagnate. Sorry folks, just my opinion.
I think usability is alive and well around the world. However, usability as its own thing, and as a profession, is getting weaker every day. In my opinion, two things are happening. Usability ideas are starting to get pushed into the corners or organizations. Also, development firms are using more and more usability ideas in their work. Not that they are doing it right, but they are on track and progress is being made. The second thing is a few experts are dominating the field as it stands, with little new research being generated by the community. Too many zombies are simply following the "research" and advice of the gurus. As always, the universities are doing work, but it isn't having much of an impact on the regular grunts. Here's a little challenge: Name three brilliant usability things you have seen in the last 12 months. These things could be research findings, truly innovative ideas, outstanding tools, or something else. What is new in usability? Not much. Want to keep playing the game? Name three brilliant things you have seen with Flash in the last year. Much easier! Even when you throw out all the Flash crap out there, there is plenty of cool new stuff. Innovative. Groundbreaking. Useful to users! Posted by: John S. Rhodes on September 26, 2002 12:04 PM
JS I put this to you...do you think that usability is going mainstream...everyone talks about it and acknowledges it importance. But because it doesn't give the ROI results that business mangers need to justify spending dollars, they go to courses themselves to learn the fundamentals and thus usability professionals lose business and therefore the perception of the death of usability
Name three brilliant usability things you have seen in the last 12 months Easy. There is always some good research each year in the CHI Conference proceedings, from SURL, and from similar high-quality publications and labs.
Not the competent managers, they have much higher priorities. They're not a part of the usability granfalloon, so they find it easy to realize most of the promises from the usability community is hype. There's no need to bother considering ROI. Posted by: Ron Zeno on September 26, 2002 06:37 PM
So Ron, is that to say that competent mangers make a conscious decision to not further educate themselves? Posted by: JB on September 26, 2002 07:30 PM
Ron: Yes work against a list of heuristics/principles. Also use *task scenarios* as agreed with the business, to assist guide the evaluation and to identify issues the business believes that may be impacting the product. The issues are sorted by heuristic/principle and the potential *show stoppers* or *major issues* are used as the *input* to the usability testing sessions. Also a good tool for validating the task scenarios. Also use my own my own experience yes. Posted by: daniel szuc on September 26, 2002 11:11 PM
"is that to say that competent mangers make a conscious decision to not further educate themselves?" (Education? Where did that come from?) Competent managers make a conscious decision not to waste their time with low-priority issues, with hype, with scams - which is what we've made usability appear to be.
Home | Moving WebWord | Cool Books | Hot Web Sites
URL: http://webword.com/weblog/ ©1998-2005 by WebWord.com. All rights reserved. |