User usability
I think all webmasters and designers know that a well-developed and user-friendly interface will help attract and retain more users on your site.
But does the developer's opinion always coincide with the opinion of an ordinary user? After all, we for them, dears, try. But what we thought was convenient and comfortable, most likely will seem to the majority of users not as it should be. In this post we will try to figure out whether our opinion coincides with the opinion of our audience.
I want to tell about the usability of sites on the example of one survey conducted by American students. In this survey, people were asked 10 questions, each of which had to choose one of two more convenient options for implementing the site interface.
Well, let's get started. The first couple of questions are boring, but more will be more fun.
')
1. Which of the two pages is more comfortable for you to read?
As you noticed, the font on the right page is more bold than on the left. Personally, I don’t really like bold fonts, I’m used to plain text and I’m more comfortable reading it. And what do users think? 63% of users voted for the right page. So, the first fail. Go ahead.
2. Which of these two texts is easier to read?
Line spacing on the left page is slightly larger than on the right. I am quite satisfied with the second option, with the usual interval. Voices are divided almost equally. 46% - left, 54% - right, so here my opinion coincided with the majority.
3. Which menu option do you prefer?
Most, of course, will say on the left, and this is so - 78%. But I will say on the right, and explain why, in terms of ergonomics, if the person is right-handed, and we are the majority, then the interactive elements should also be located on the right, so that the movements of the hand and the eye do not overlap. This time I'm outnumbered. The second failure.
4. What kind of navigation do you prefer?
I hope my opinion coincides with the majority opinion, and yes! For the vertical menu voted 71% of the audience. Let's try to answer the question, why so? It's all pretty simple. Most people do not read, but sort of scans the menu for what we need. And by the first characters we can understand whether this is what we were looking for, and if not, then scan further. In order for the scanning process to be more comfortable, we need some kind of vertical line along which the eye will move. In the case of the horizontal menu, it is not so easy to scan, if in this example the menu items are separated, then quite often this separation does not occur, and in order to find the beginning of a new element, you have to read the name completely. Naturally, this creates significant inconveniences.
5. On which screen it is easier to find the search string.
Surely the majority will say that on the right, and will be right - 77%. On the left, the line is harder to find, because it is in a less contrasting area, and another danger is that the user may think that the search will take place not over the entire site, but only within the given bar site.
6. Where do you expect to see the “confirm” button
And here everything is quite unexpected. Voices divided exactly in half 50/50. Why so? Let me assume that the audience among which the survey was conducted, consists of half of the users of Windows, and the second half are users of MacOS. In these systems, the buttons are located in reverse. In windows, the "submit" button is on the left, in MacOS - on the right. Since I am a Windows user, I choose the left option. Since the voices are equally divided, nothing threatens me. Go ahead.
7. Which design is more credible to the company?
Look at the pages and tell me what colors give you more confidence in the company? What company is this? You do not know, and there is no mention of it on the site. Personally, I chose green, firstly - I just do not like the blue color, and secondly - the green color is associated with the green signal of the traffic light, which as if tells us: “Everything is in order, go boldly!”. Let's see what the users say - 73% voted for this option, I'm glad that my thoughts coincide with the majority.
8. Which selection of required fields is preferable?
Here the voices are again divided in half, 50/50. I voted for the left option, as it is just more familiar to me. Why voices were divided exactly in half, I find it difficult to answer. It seems to me that this is just because users get confused when there are both required and non-required fields in one form, and it doesn’t matter how they are highlighted. It is natural to refuse any fields does not make sense, because we need to register the user in the system and for this we need the necessary data. The output I see is this: no need to give the user mixed forms. We give him a form where all fields are required, and there are no asterisks or different colors. And in the second step, we will give him a form with additional fields, and so that the user does not relax, we will supply the form with some motivators, why he should enter additional data.
9. Which option is more convenient to close.
I think that here the majority will agree with me, it is more convenient to close the right option. Here I am with everyone - 95%. And such a division destroys the hypothesis of two types of users - Windows and MacOS. After all, in the Mac, the buttons for controlling and closing the window are on the left, why then so few people voted for this option? As one person said, looking at these options: "Yes, in the Mac there is a button on the left, but how is it not convenient." Apparently the majority of users of this OS thinks so.
10. Which version of the “print” button do you prefer?
This time I am again on the side of the majority - 78% prefer the button with the signature. It is not difficult to explain. How often, wandering through the expanses of the Internet, do you come up with the same icons of the same printer? I think the answer here is very rare. There is no standard for the image of labels, each designer will draw what he thought was more beautiful. And often then the user puzzles what the developer had in mind under the next picture. With this vote, users seem to say: "Do not be clever, we want to know exactly what action will lead us to this button." And I completely agree with them.
Well, it seems not everything is as bad as it seemed at the beginning. In most cases, my research in the interface will cater to the ordinary user. And I can advise everyone else, before introducing any innovations on your site, think well, and will your users appreciate it?
But does the developer's opinion always coincide with the opinion of an ordinary user? After all, we for them, dears, try. But what we thought was convenient and comfortable, most likely will seem to the majority of users not as it should be. In this post we will try to figure out whether our opinion coincides with the opinion of our audience.
I want to tell about the usability of sites on the example of one survey conducted by American students. In this survey, people were asked 10 questions, each of which had to choose one of two more convenient options for implementing the site interface.
Well, let's get started. The first couple of questions are boring, but more will be more fun.
')
1. Which of the two pages is more comfortable for you to read?
As you noticed, the font on the right page is more bold than on the left. Personally, I don’t really like bold fonts, I’m used to plain text and I’m more comfortable reading it. And what do users think? 63% of users voted for the right page. So, the first fail. Go ahead.
2. Which of these two texts is easier to read?
Line spacing on the left page is slightly larger than on the right. I am quite satisfied with the second option, with the usual interval. Voices are divided almost equally. 46% - left, 54% - right, so here my opinion coincided with the majority.
3. Which menu option do you prefer?
Most, of course, will say on the left, and this is so - 78%. But I will say on the right, and explain why, in terms of ergonomics, if the person is right-handed, and we are the majority, then the interactive elements should also be located on the right, so that the movements of the hand and the eye do not overlap. This time I'm outnumbered. The second failure.
4. What kind of navigation do you prefer?
I hope my opinion coincides with the majority opinion, and yes! For the vertical menu voted 71% of the audience. Let's try to answer the question, why so? It's all pretty simple. Most people do not read, but sort of scans the menu for what we need. And by the first characters we can understand whether this is what we were looking for, and if not, then scan further. In order for the scanning process to be more comfortable, we need some kind of vertical line along which the eye will move. In the case of the horizontal menu, it is not so easy to scan, if in this example the menu items are separated, then quite often this separation does not occur, and in order to find the beginning of a new element, you have to read the name completely. Naturally, this creates significant inconveniences.
5. On which screen it is easier to find the search string.
Surely the majority will say that on the right, and will be right - 77%. On the left, the line is harder to find, because it is in a less contrasting area, and another danger is that the user may think that the search will take place not over the entire site, but only within the given bar site.
6. Where do you expect to see the “confirm” button
And here everything is quite unexpected. Voices divided exactly in half 50/50. Why so? Let me assume that the audience among which the survey was conducted, consists of half of the users of Windows, and the second half are users of MacOS. In these systems, the buttons are located in reverse. In windows, the "submit" button is on the left, in MacOS - on the right. Since I am a Windows user, I choose the left option. Since the voices are equally divided, nothing threatens me. Go ahead.
7. Which design is more credible to the company?
Look at the pages and tell me what colors give you more confidence in the company? What company is this? You do not know, and there is no mention of it on the site. Personally, I chose green, firstly - I just do not like the blue color, and secondly - the green color is associated with the green signal of the traffic light, which as if tells us: “Everything is in order, go boldly!”. Let's see what the users say - 73% voted for this option, I'm glad that my thoughts coincide with the majority.
8. Which selection of required fields is preferable?
Here the voices are again divided in half, 50/50. I voted for the left option, as it is just more familiar to me. Why voices were divided exactly in half, I find it difficult to answer. It seems to me that this is just because users get confused when there are both required and non-required fields in one form, and it doesn’t matter how they are highlighted. It is natural to refuse any fields does not make sense, because we need to register the user in the system and for this we need the necessary data. The output I see is this: no need to give the user mixed forms. We give him a form where all fields are required, and there are no asterisks or different colors. And in the second step, we will give him a form with additional fields, and so that the user does not relax, we will supply the form with some motivators, why he should enter additional data.
9. Which option is more convenient to close.
I think that here the majority will agree with me, it is more convenient to close the right option. Here I am with everyone - 95%. And such a division destroys the hypothesis of two types of users - Windows and MacOS. After all, in the Mac, the buttons for controlling and closing the window are on the left, why then so few people voted for this option? As one person said, looking at these options: "Yes, in the Mac there is a button on the left, but how is it not convenient." Apparently the majority of users of this OS thinks so.
10. Which version of the “print” button do you prefer?
This time I am again on the side of the majority - 78% prefer the button with the signature. It is not difficult to explain. How often, wandering through the expanses of the Internet, do you come up with the same icons of the same printer? I think the answer here is very rare. There is no standard for the image of labels, each designer will draw what he thought was more beautiful. And often then the user puzzles what the developer had in mind under the next picture. With this vote, users seem to say: "Do not be clever, we want to know exactly what action will lead us to this button." And I completely agree with them.
Well, it seems not everything is as bad as it seemed at the beginning. In most cases, my research in the interface will cater to the ordinary user. And I can advise everyone else, before introducing any innovations on your site, think well, and will your users appreciate it?
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/109594/
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