1. Usage Analysis March 15 (Ides of March), 2001 By Kevin Fox, for SIMS 213

2. Overview zWhat is usage analysis? zWhy perform usage analysis? zUnderstanding your users zTools for usage analysis

3. What is Usage Analysis? zTheory yOne-way window between the designer and real-world users performing their own tasks. zPractice yGathering and analysis of logfiles and other data from the actual day-to-day use of a site.

4. Why Perform Usage Analysis? zTask Analysis zDemographic Profiling zDesign Evaluation zUnderstanding the user

5. UA Task Analysis zUsage statistics and profiles show real users performing their own real tasks. zLogfile analysis can be used to identify these tasks and their relative frequencies.

6. UA Task Analysis zAdvantages yReal users yReal environments yReal tasks yIdeal for iterative design yRelatively cheap

7. UA Task Analysis zDisadvantages yYou have to have a real site yDifficult to obtain demographic data yNo ‘thinking aloud’ protocol yGuessing at a users real intent (usually, more on that later) yUseful analysis can be difficult

8. Demographic Profiling zHow do needs change based on who the user is? zMore on this later

9. Design Evaluation zHow well does your existing site work? zWhere do users run into problems?

10. Between Groups Testing zDivert a portion of real users to a new version of a site (or several possible new versions) and compare the results zImportance of keeping user groups distinct (between groups, as opposed to within groups) zTrue iterative process, using the real world in the feedback loop.

11. UA and Marketing zMarketing is not a bad word zPutting your site into the hands of the users who need/want it

12. Measures of success zMoney? zUsage? zBrand Identity? zWhat is Amazon’s measure of success?

13. Tracking Marketing Statistics zWhere do your users come from? zWhat forms of marketing are most successful?

14. What is Marketing Success? zBanner advertisement clickthrough rates? zComparing use patterns across origins yTargeted vs untargeted advertising (punch the monkey, tricking the user) zIn short: All users are not equal

15. So let’s get to it! zKinds of Information zSources of Information zTools for Visualizing Information

16. Kinds of Information zUsage paths zLatency zRates of abandonment zViral marketing

17. Usage Paths zWhere do your users go, and how do they get there? zThe most obvious navigation might not be the one they use. zExample: Berkeley Paths (http://fury.com/berkeleypaths)http://fury.com/berkeleypaths

18. Latency zHow long does a user spend on a page before going to the next page? zWhy might this statistic be misleading?

19. Rates of Abandonment zMulti-stage tasks run a higher risk of being abandoned before completion zShopping Cart example zPage-by-page abandonment stats can help isolate usage problems. zTrue for more complex interactive ‘loops’ as well (eVite example)

20. Viral Marketing zViral Marketing is usually in the form of iterative traffic. yeVite example zBrief tangent: Analyzing viral marketing

21. Sources of Information zWeb site log files zSpecialized usability apps zExit surveys yNetRaker

22. Visualizing Usage Data zMake data approachable zBest pattern recognition computer is still the human brain zRecognition tools exist, but the most useful tools are still those that organize data so our own brains can find patterns

23. Tools for Visualizing Data zAnalog zRealtime Stat providers zWebQuilt zVIS VIP

24. Analog zProvides: yAggregate data for referrers yMost popular page data yTtraffic over time yFrequent visitors (IP addresses) zLacks: yAbility to filter one criterion by another. yWebTV example

25. Realtime Stat Providers zInstant access zRequires preparation on site (usually a graphic on each page) zDoesn’t always work (outages, Browser issues) zSuperstatsSuperstats

26. WebQuilt zProxy-based site and usage data acquisition tool zVisualization tool zhttp://guir.berkeley.edu/projects/webquilthttp://guir.berkeley.edu/projects/webquilt

27. VISVIP zProxy-based site and usage data acquisition tool zVisualization tool zhttp://www.itl.nist.gov/iaui/vvrg/cugini/webmet/visvip/pix.htmlhttp://www.itl.nist.gov/iaui/vvrg/cugini/webmet/visvip/pix.html

28. Upcoming Assignment z“Between Groups” logfile study