2. What is Usability? Features on the website that make it user-friendly Features on the website that make it user-friendly

3. Usability According to Dictionary.com: Usability is the effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction with which users can achieve tasks in a particular environment of a product. High usability means a system is: easy to learn and remember, efficient, visually pleasing and fun to use, and quick to recover from errors

4. Why is usability important? Users don’t read pages they scan them Users don’t read pages they scan them –We are normally in a hurry –We don’t need everything on a page –We are good at it Users don’t make optimal choices Users don’t make optimal choices –We chose the first reasonable option Users don’t figure out how things work Users don’t figure out how things work –We take little time to read instructions –We make up our own plausible stories about why it works –The instructions are not important us

5. Don’t Make Me Think! What to keep in mind when designing a site What to keep in mind when designing a site Keep the site self-explanatory Keep the site self-explanatory Why is it important to keep the site simple? Why is it important to keep the site simple? –Makes everything look better –Good lighting in a store

6. E-Commerce & Usability Keep it simple Keep it simple –Don’t use unnecessary graphics –Don’t use unnecessary technologies (flash, java, etc.) as you will be limiting your site to visitors who have only the newest browsers that support these technologies –Most users are more concerned about the products available on your site and the quality of your content Always let your customers know where they are Always let your customers know where they are –If your site is not easy to navigate, they may shop elsewhere rather than attempt to figure it out further –Always have a link available to the site map –Don’t disable browser functions (like the Back button)

7. E-Commerce & Usability (cont.) Pack your site with information Pack your site with information –Put the most important information at the top of each page –Don’t overdo it. Make writing clear and avoid jargon terms –Use a font and size that are easy to read –Make sure there are no bad links

8. Top 10 heuristics (accepted standards) that are key to usability 1. Visibility of system status 2. Match between the system and the real world 3. User control and freedom 4. Consistency and standards 5. Error prevention 6. Recognition rather than recall 7. Flexibility and efficiency of use 8. Aesthetic and minimalist design 9. Help users recognize, diagnose and recover from errors 10. Help and documentation

9. Top 10 Mistakes in Web Design 1996 1. Using Frames 2. Gratuitous Use of Bleeding Edge Technology 3. Scrolling Text, marquees, and constantly running animations 4. Complex URL’s 5. Orphan pages 6. Long scrolling pages 7. Lack of navigation support 8. Non-Standard link colors 9. Outdated information 10. Overly long download times

10. Top 10 Mistakes in Web Design 1999 1. Breaking or slowing down the back button 2. Opening new browser windows 3. Non-Standard use of GUI (Graphical User Interface) Widgets 4. Lack of biographies 5. Lack of archives 6. Moving pages to new URL’s 7. Headlines that make no sense out of context 8. Jumping at the latest internet buzzword 9. Slow server response times 10. Anything that looks like advertising

11. Top 10 Mistakes in Web Design 2002 1. No prices 2. Inflexible search engines 3. Horizontal scrolling 4. Fixed font size 5. Blocks of text 6. JavaScript in links 7. Infrequently asked questions in FAQ 8. Collecting e-mail addresses without a privacy policy 9. URL > 75 characters 10. Mailto links in unexpected locations

12. Top 10 Mistakes in Web Design 2004 1. Bad Search 2. PDF Files for online reading 3. Not changing the color of visited links. 4. Non-scan able text 5. Fixed font size 6. Pages titles with low search engine visibility 7. Anything that looks like an advertisement. 8. Violating design conventions 9. Opening new browser windows 10. Not answering users’ questions

13. VOTING AND USABILITY Voting itself is the ultimate usability problem—people must be able to vote accurately with an interface that is never the same. Voting itself is the ultimate usability problem—people must be able to vote accurately with an interface that is never the same.

15. Butterfly Ballot A small change was made to the ballot in Palm Beach County, Florida…increasing the text size. A small change was made to the ballot in Palm Beach County, Florida…increasing the text size. This move, meant to appease the elderly with trouble reading small text, forced the ballot from one to two columns. This move, meant to appease the elderly with trouble reading small text, forced the ballot from one to two columns. This did not initially seem difficult to use but on voting day, a flood of people complained of difficulty voting, and mismatched candidates and incorrect results. This did not initially seem difficult to use but on voting day, a flood of people complained of difficulty voting, and mismatched candidates and incorrect results.

16. "The Secretary of State shall conduct a drawing of the letters of the alphabet, the result of which shall be known as a randomized alphabet. … There shall be four drawings, three in each even-numbered year and one in each odd-numbered year.“ "The Secretary of State shall conduct a drawing of the letters of the alphabet, the result of which shall be known as a randomized alphabet. … There shall be four drawings, three in each even-numbered year and one in each odd-numbered year.“ RWQOJMVAHBSGZXNTCIEKUPDYFL RWQOJMVAHBSGZXNTCIEKUPDYFL One version used 16 sizes and styles of type One version used 16 sizes and styles of type

17. California Florida

18. Design Issues Aprox. 18,000 votes were discarded Aprox. 18,000 votes were discarded Overvoting (write-ins) Overvoting (write-ins) Undervoting (flip over page) Undervoting (flip over page) No uniformity No uniformity Arrows Arrows Instruction placement Instruction placement Step by step directions Step by step directions

20. India’s EVM India is the world’s largest democracy India is the world’s largest democracy In May, 380 million Indian’s cast electronic votes In May, 380 million Indian’s cast electronic votes Largest experiment in electronic voting; considered a success Largest experiment in electronic voting; considered a success

21. How the machine works A column of buttons runs down the side and next to each button is a paper slip with politician names. Voters show an I.D. card and then push a button in correspondence to the desired candidate. A column of buttons runs down the side and next to each button is a paper slip with politician names. Voters show an I.D. card and then push a button in correspondence to the desired candidate.

22. http://www.diebold.com/dieboldes/OnLi ne_Demo/screen1.html http://www.diebold.com/dieboldes/OnLi ne_Demo/screen1.html

25. Is Voting Technology Better? There’s no right answer yet. With e-voting, etc. privacy, security and trust are all at risk, even more so than with paper and traditional vote casting methods, and results can be just as equally misinterpreted or misrepresented. There’s no right answer yet. With e-voting, etc. privacy, security and trust are all at risk, even more so than with paper and traditional vote casting methods, and results can be just as equally misinterpreted or misrepresented. It all comes down to usability as computerization alone cannot improve elections. It all comes down to usability as computerization alone cannot improve elections.

27. Bibliography Boros, J., (March 13, 2005). Evaluating an E-Commerce Site's Usability. Retrieved April 19, 2005, from http://www.morebusiness.com. Jones, D. (2001). A Brief Illustrated History of Voting. Retrieved April 17, 2005, from http://www.cs.uiowa.edu/~jones/voting/pictures. Krug, S. (2000). Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability. Indianapolis: New Riders Publishing. Kunerth, Jeff (October 23, 2004). Florida ballots still have design flaws, experts say. Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved April 17, 2005, from LexisNexis. Nielsen, J., (April 11, 2005). Current Issues in Web Usability. Retrieved April 19, 2005, from http://www.alertbox.com. Scanlon, J., (October 6, 2003) Wanted: A Legible Voting Ballot. Retrieved December 13, 2004 from http://www.slate.com. http://www.slate.com Weiner, E. (September 29, 2004). The Bombay Ballot. Retrieved April 17, 2005 from http://www.slate.com.