Web Manager University – Fall 2009
Class Title: Latest Usability Trends – Bringing Research into Practice
| Class Format: | One–Day Course | |
| Instructor: | Kath Straub | |
| Date | Wednesday, December 9, 2009 | |
| Time: | 9:00 am – 5:00 pm EST | |
| Place: | Department of Labor (DOL) | Directions to DOL |
| Fee: | $200 federal, state, or local U.S. government; $300 for non–government participants | |
Course Description
Nothing resolves the which–design–is–better debate faster than research evidence. Becoming familiar with key and recent research findings improves both the quality of your website designs and your credibility in presenting, explaining and justifying design and content decisions.
But it's virtually impossible today for web practitioners to keep up with the research. There is no single place to look: Key findings are published in a range of multi–disciplinary international journals. And the really current work is reported at conferences. Even those who have access to the journals and the budget to attend conferences, don't have the time to comb through the studies to find the ones that matter most.
This one-day course provides a solution to the no time/no budget/no access to research problem. During the course, we'll
- present a lively overview of key and current research findings
- discuss how these findings relate to web managers and usability analysts today
- apply key findings in hands-on exercises to create websites that are more usable, readable and persuasive.
What You Will Learn
In this course, you will learn how to apply key recent research findings in usability, psychology, persuasion, content readability, interaction design, and other related disciplines.
The research on human behavior answers questions like:
- What does eye–tracking tell us about how people behave on websites?
- What are the key challenges faced by blind website users? How can you fix them?
- Why do developers fail to act on the important findings reported in usability tests? What can we do to change that?
- How can persuasion/influence design principles be applied to improve government web sites?
- Which type of survey works best? How can I get more people to respond to my survey?
- What tools and technologies are users really adopting in the social networking space? (Hint: Many blogs are written. Few are read.)
Research on emerging research methods offers updates to traditional usability methods, (such as card sorting and expert reviews), and introduces ideas about newer methods (such as web analytics) that makes them more meaningful and relevant to government and non-profit websites.
Course Outline
9:00 – 10:30 What people do: Research findings that report and update how people act and interact with technology (Hands on exercise)
10:30 – 10:45 Break
10:45 – 12:15 – How people decide: The science behind creating websites and web content engages, educates, persuades and changes behavior (Hands on exercise)
12:15 – 1:00 – Lunch
1:00 – 2:30 New findings/Updated guidelines: Research that extend and challenges our thinking about usability (Hands-on exercise)
2:30 – 2:45 Break
2:45 – 4:00 – Useful and usable: Creating reports that are compelling and actionable for non-usability people (Hands-on exercise)
4:00 – 5:00 – Additional Q&AWho Should Attend
This course focuses on recent research informing
- What makes websites effective (or not)?
- How to design persuasive content?
- How to measure the effectiveness of your site or communications.
- How to create effective communication between designers and developers.
The content is relevant for anyone who works with or manages the communication strategy, web design, interaction design or content creation for an organization.
The goal of this course bridge is to bridge the gap between research and practice to provide practitioner's streamlined insights and practical applications for current usability research.
Individuals new to the field will see how research is used to guide design best practices and shape emerging methods. Experienced professionals will update their knowledge-base and methodological skills.
While the content assumes basic knowledge of/exposure to usability and user research methods, you needn't be either a usability expert or a scientist to benefit from the day.Why You Should Attend
The content presented in this course is relevant to everyone involved in web/communications strategy, web design, content design and web management. It is especially relevant for hands–on site, application and content designers.
Level of Course
Beginner to Intermediate
About the Instructor
Kath Straub works with organizations and agencies to create, integrate and evaluate interactions that shape user behavior. Usability is a key part of this effort. To ensure that sites are both usable and useful, Kath also focuses is on creating conversations – via engaging, readable and persuasive content that drive behavioral change.
Using multi–disciplinary research methods, she explores users' information needs and aspirations, as well as their fears and apprehensions. Her interview methods uncover traditional user needs, but also key emotions, motivations and bottlenecks that critically inform content design.
- What do people know?
- What do they (think they) need to know to decide/act?
- Where do they look to for information?
- How do they integrate what they learn across channels ?
- How do interactive experiences (re–) shape their beliefs and future behaviors?
She applies the findings to design content and interactions that influence user decisions by enhancing consumers' domain literacy (e.g., health literacy or financial literacy) and increasing trust and confidence in the organization. She has augmented this approach with derived web analytics measures that capture the effectiveness of key pages in information–oriented websites.
Kath is an energetic and entertaining speaker who is invited to present frequently at conferences and workshops around the world. In recent months, she has presented in Portland (UPA), New York (Forrester Consumer Research Forum), Berlin (UPA), London (TecCom), and Albany , NY (GTC). At UPA09, Kath received enthusiastic reviews and requests for repeat for a seminar similar to this one. (This course is update and re-focused for government web strategists/desingers/managers.)
Kath Straub is currently the Principal of Usability.org. Before that she spent 9 years as the Chief Scientist at Human Factors International. She has been recognized by Federal Computer Week Magazine as a Rising Star in Government. Kath holds a Ph.D. in Brain and Cognitive Science from the University of Rochester .
