Beyond HTML!

Information Outlook, Nov, 1998 by Charles J. Greenberg

USABILITY: EVALUATING DESIGN

The ultimate test of usability for an interface design is an assessment of the user experience. An expert review has the advantage of being requested on short notice with rapid turnaround, at any point at either an early or late design stage. Of course, experts may lack the expectation of a novice user or misunderstand the task domain that the interface represents. Usability labs may test a small group of users on a similar task and can generate a report of recommendations. User surveys are familiar, inexpensive, and can contain precise questions. Software can enable the collection of usage patterns and frequency of errors. Commercial software help desks can solicit opinions on usability, and a rich, recent source of opinions is found in electronic discussion groups. Conferences or professional meetings provide a venue for "user group" activities, and usability evaluators can be solicited from such groups. The design, evaluation, and implementation of interactive computing systems for human use is known by the interdisciplinary term human-computer interaction (HCI). HCI combines cognitive psychology, social and organizational psychology, ergonomics, linguistics, artificial intelligence, social sciences, and engineering. The common denominator for these diverse HCI topics is the focus on the human being and user of the computer interface. Rather than allowing systems thinking to dominate the development of the computer interface, HCI brings research focus to the audience and consumer.

IN CONCLUSION

These are my recommendations for bringing a cognitive perspective to your future HTML efforts. Remember, you may not be the person doing the actual HTML markup for your institution, but the following perspective will help you with editorial responsibilities, and your user community will certainly respond to the design improvements present in your "virtual library":

* Visual Biology favors certain color combinations and placement within an interface.

* Cognitive overload accompanies complexity. Keep it simple when possible.

* Sensory memory is short-term

* Well-designed, consistently placed iconic navigation aides help to orient novice users

* Designing with awareness of Gestalt principles of perceptual organization will prevent inadvertent distraction for users.

* Effective displays focus on the peripheral visual system

* Grouping is not in itself an effective design principle

* Mental perception is not essentially based on what is experienced, but on comparison with previous learning.

* A thorough factoring of HCI principles, complemented by formative evaluation, will yield a superior initial design.

COGNITION AND INTERFACE DESIGN TERMINOLOGY

COGNITION: The processes by which we acquire, absorb, and gain knowledge

COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY: The study of the nature of human intelligence and how people transform information into knowledge

GESTALT: In a design context, principles that determine how objects are segmented into component parts for perceptual organization and cognitive processing