• assignment review
• strategy & scope
• usability heuristics
• site analysis assignment
• random design tutorials
• readings

With regard to your first assignments:

• describe your approach
• describe some of the challenges
• discuss some of the things you like/dislike about the web

Some key points/concepts from this week's reading:

• user experience based on user needs and site objectives: what do our users want and what do we want?
• user needs and site objectives ensure that design decisions are not made by accident - do they contribute to these needs and objectives?
• on the web, user experience is your brand
• success: how will you know if you've reached your goals?
• users are diverse and can be segmented in different ways
• gathering user needs:
  • market research - surveys, focus groups
  • contextual inquiry - how do users use your product/site within the context of their everyday lives?
  • task analysis - interviews or observation to understand the steps required to complete a task
  • user testing - test what you've built; iterative
  • card sorting - grouping information elements
  • personas - fictional representation of your users - example [pdf]
• scope refers to the specific content and functionality you will provide to users
• know what you're building...and what you're not building
• functional specifications describe what the system should do
• content requirements describe what information needs to be included
• there are functional specs in content (CMS) and content implications in functional specs (instructional text)
• gathering requirements:
  • ask your users - what people say they want, things they actually want, and things they don't know they want
  • group brainstorming - different perspectives can open the door to new possibilities
  • remove impediments - how can you ease user pain?
  • scenarios - how would your personas complete a task? - example [pdf]
  • competitors - good artists imitate, great artists steal
• final thought: a user interface will never compensate for a flawed system

Usability heuristics, from Jakob Nielsen:

1. visibility of system status
   keep users informed about what's happening; how long will something take; thank you after form submission
2. match between system and the real world
   speak the users' language; follow real-world conventions (shopping cart, etc.)
3. user control and freedom
   provide escape exits if people make a mistake; OK and cancel on forms
4. consistency and standards
   visual look, terminology actions should mean the same thing in all situations
5. error prevention
   eliminate error-prone conditions
6. recognition rather than recall
   minimize what people must remember by keeping options visible
7. flexibility and efficiency of use
   provide different ways to do things that cater to both experienced and novice users; advanced options on a separate page
8. aesthetic and minimalist design
   "less is more" - leave out irrelevant information
9. help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors
   help users find a solution or take a next step; clear communication; custom 404 pages
10. help and documentation
    searchable, list concrete steps; help should be easily accessible

• Heuristic evaluation template [xls]
• Navigation Aanalysis template [doc]
• Usability checklist [xls] from MIT Information Services & Technology
• Usability Toolkit
• Top Ten Web Design Mistakes of 2005
• Research-based Web Design & Usability Guidelines from the US National Cancer Institute

If you're looking for a bit of fun with Photoshop, here are some random design tutorials for you to walk through:

• Create gel buttons
  From PhotoshopSupport.com. Lots of other cool tutorials here.
• Colourizing photos
  Add colour to old black and white photos.
• Lighting effects
  From Phong. Lots of other tutorials here.