User Experience

This page will serve as a starting point for documenting the development of the uPortal 3 default user interface.

uPortal 3 User Experience Proposal

It seems relevant to raise and address a few important questions about the uPortal 3 default user interface:

• What is user experience and how is it different than user interface?
• How do we design the user experience of uPortal 3?
• What are the goals for the uPortal 3 user experience?
• Who are we designing for?
• What activities get us there?
• How do we measure success?
• Then what?
• How can I get involved?

What is user experience and how is it different than user interface?

Proposed Answer:

User experience is just that: the sum experience of a user while interacting with a system or product. The system or product is partially comprised of a series of connected user interfaces, the user-facing element that the user interacts with. Thus, a user interface can be described as an element or subset of the user experience.

Examined in whole, the user experience encompasses all facets of the system, both tangible and intangible - efficiency, performance, cohesiveness, help, error prevention and recovery, and visual style, for example - and is evaluated by aspects such as Peter Morville's "UE honeycomb": useful, usable, desirable, findable, accessible, credible, and valuable.

How do we design the user experience of uPortal 3?

Proposed Answer: Employ a user-centered design methodology.

User-Centered Design (UCD) is an Industry Standards Organization (ISO) approved process that puts the end user in the driver's seat of application design, and has its roots grounded in human factors engineering, human to computer interaction (HCI), cognitive psychology, graphic design, and other related fields of study.

By putting the user at the center of the process, design and development is focused on understanding and meeting the user's needs and goals, producing a solution that maps directly to meet those needs and goals, and results in intuitive, easy-to-use products.

I think an example of what a user's goal(s) is and how to design for it might be helpful here.

A suggested UCD process outline:

1. Define Goals
2. Identify User Profiles
3. Model User-Centric Scenarios
4. Design, Prototype, & Iterate
5. Test with Real Users
6. Measure & Repeat

What are the goals for the uPortal 3 user experience?

Proposed Answer: Modernize the user experience, enhance layout customization, and improve usability.

Modernize the User Experience

• AJAX
• Drag and Drop
• Logo redesign

Enhance Layout Customization

• Institution Configuration
• Customized Presentation of Individual Portlets
• Preference State Always On

Improve Usability

• Professional Presentation
• Visual Grid System
• Navigational Hierarchy
• Modal Interaction Patterns
• Supporting the Browser Back Button
• Error Reporting and Recovery
• First-Time User Setup
• User Settings
• Contextual Help
• Portal Administration
• Web Standards
• Accessibility Law Compliance
• WCAG 2.0 priority 1 compliance
• Text-only rendering
• Access keys
• RSS and WebProxy Content Addition
• Bookmarking and Deep-linking
• External Linking

Who are we designing for?

Proposed Answer: Personas that represent real user groups.

• Students
• Faculty
• Executives
• IT and Portal Administrators
• Staff
• Users with disabilities

What activities get us there?

Proposed Answer: Design, prototype, and iterate.

There are a lot of good ideas out there, and this space will hopefully become the point of collaboration for these activities.

How can I get involved?

How do we measure success?

Proposed Answer: Usability Testing.

Employ three methods of testing:

A) Non-compliant (Brick Wall) - This method is used to catch any major "brick walls" or design problems that users run into. This method is focused on quickly validating design decisions before they become too inherent in the overall system design rather than on compliance with stricter 9241-11 standards of measure.

B) Compliant (9241-11) - This method relies on ISO 9241-11 which provides the following guidance on usability and the definition of usability:

C) Simple Usability Test - This test is a hybrid between the compliant and non-compliant test. While a non-compliant test is perfect for "quick and dirty" feedback during the design process, a simple usability test can help capture and measure real data. Learn more about how to perform a Simple Usability Test.

Usability: the extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction in a specified context of use.

Then what?

Proposed Answer: Measure and repeat.

A design is never perfect but needs continued refinement. Once this user-centered design process has seen its way through, there will likely be a release of uPortal. Afterwards we should step back, evaluate, recalibrate, and get started again for the next release.

How can I get involved?

Proposed Answer: Any way you want!

Here are some points of involvement:

• Review goals, personas, and designs and submit comments
• Submit designs
• Do "Brick Wall" user testing of these designs with users at your institution and post the feedback
• Sponsor "Compliant" user testing at your institution