In the first part of this article we have taken a first look at our position as human beings with the constant use of different types of tools and, furthermore, why it is important to perceive ourselves as a key element in their production —regardless of their nature—. Now we will see where to apply the information obtained by our users from the two main concepts of web design (and development).
Usability:
Once we have information about who, it is time to think about how. For example, how do we make the shortest and most efficient route to get to the Indies?
According to ISO, the acronym for the International Organization for Standardization, which gave one of the first definitions of usability, it says that it is “ The extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specified objectives with effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction in a specific context of use .” It should be noted at this point that the type of users does change according to each project, as well as their needs contextualized in what the company, which is our client, offers. But it is also worth reiterating that good usability practices transcend the different types of projects and the fluctuating trends of modernity.
We have four questions that we must take into account to start designing and that we must answer satisfactorily at the end of the process. Questions like: Is the goal achievable? and do you know what to do? They are part of the user's Execution Stage . And others like Was the right thing done? and Was the objective achieved? They are part of the Product Evaluation. Important note: The product is always evaluated. Never to the user.
The four questions can be answered at four levels:
- It is an implicit expectation when the user believes or imagines what can be done based on what he has seen in other products or other scenarios.
- The Explicit Expectation is what the user knows can be done, either from their own experience or from references from other users.
- For its part, an Indirect Match is the result of what a user expects the system to do but the function is not expressed as the user expects. For example, when you want to make a circle, but the tool tells you that you can make “Ellipses”.
- But when questions are answered with a Direct Match level , meaning the user receives exactly what they expect in language and functionality, we have done an excellent job.
We cannot continue without mentioning that accessibility is a fundamental issue - and vast in itself - that is part of usability and seeks as a principle to include all types of users, from those with different perceptual and motor abilities that may come from birth, caused by external situations or by the passage of time, to those with all their physical faculties but who use different devices or ways to navigate. In conclusion, accessibility completes and strengthens the user's stay within the digital product, allowing users of all types to access all the information on the site.
The user experience:
We come to the cherry on the cake.
It is not the same to be given a free dessert at the restaurant for our birthday, than to be given the dessert, put the candle and sing to us (yes, for some it is uncomfortable, for others it is very special). The point is, it is not the same to have something that is usable and functional than to interact with a product that really gives us something more than what we needed to do.
The user does not expect it, but wants to be visually and aurally stimulated; he needs to be rewarded for his achievements, to feel accompanied, listened to and to be treated with assertive and non-alarming language when the system does not allow him to move forward. The user wants to find highly visible, relevant, clear and concise information; to find varied, non-invasive options; to trigger micro-interactions that look dynamic, clean, and smooth; among others.
The user experience is a valuable plus that involves the entire usage experience of those who visit our websites.
The reality of creation:
When we get down to work, we must obviously consider several factors that influence a good result. Part of this process is ignored in our work due to four main reasons:
- Because we are unaware of the user research processes and how to carry them out.
- The vast majority of those seeking to renew their website or create it for the first time consider it unnecessary to take opinions outside the project stakeholders, either because of time or to avoid the intervention of a group of people who can change the initial projection of the project.
- Because the idea that the deadline could be affected by the inclusion of at least two stages in the construction process would be a negative point for those of us who provide the service.
- Because investing more time to adapt the system to the user's needs or comfort is not so viable when we are faced with the knowledge, time and rethinking of the initial project budget.
All these situations tend to be common in companies that focus their resources on rapid production and the exclusive reception of the customer's needs. And, while we understand that many of these projects are estimated and executed for a greater weight and beyond our control, we must also, firstly, incorporate into our companies the learning of new concepts in user research, usability, accessibility and user experience. Secondly, we must gradually take ownership of these practices, from the moment a project is visualized until it goes into production. Likewise, cultivate empathetic thinking with our users and make it part of every task we perform. And last but not least, to suggest to our clients a better way of doing things in order to achieve a result that is pleasantly received by their visitors.
More than an educational text, this is an invitation to enjoy an area of research, design and development from which we continue to discover and learn every day. Keeping in mind that we ourselves could be the next ones to need the services of the website we are building would become the engine to operate in a different way and more aware of the users who are as much human beings as digital beings.