Continuing in the series of “design mistakes”, here is a screen shot of a very simple interface where there is a only one button. However, despite its simplicity we can find a major mistake.

- Marcio Leibovitch | 4/28/2008 03:52:00 PM

Self-proclaimed as the new "Youtube Killer", Hulu, the project of both NBC and News Corp, just came out as a public beta.

The launching was a great success; unfortunately, we can't access all the great content outside the U.S.

The site is visually appealing and very interesting (even if it's similar to Apple's graphic style). The graphic grid is clear, the content is easy to read, everything flows... However, a navigation problem caught my attention in the very first minutes. It looks like an insignificant detail at first, but it quickly gets really frustrating!

The problem is the following: we don't notice that "TV" and "Movies" at the bottom of the screen are buttons right away.

Each section menu is presented as in the picture below:



Several problems are visible on this navigation menu:

1. On the homepage, the "TV" and "Movies" labels don’t appear to be important. The fact that they are buttons isn’t obvious right away.
2. "Browse TV" and "Browse Movies" lead to the TV and Movies sections without guidance indications.
3. After going on the "Browse TV" and "Browse Movies" sections, the items on the gray menu bar change.

Those little issues create a loss of context during the transitions from one section to an other. They repeatedly take time to understand.. When you are in the TV section it becomes impossible to access the HD videos gallery.

I think the intention there was probably to create three distinct universes: The global Hulu TV website, the "TV" section and the "Movies" section; every one of them having their own content and their own information architecture. Unfortunately, I think that the distinction between those three "universes" is not clear enough.

To avoid too much change in the Information Architecture, I'd like to propose an economic solution that consists of simply reviewing the presentation of the top menu in order to make it a two level menu. You can see what I mean on the picture below.



A simple graphic intervention on the menu would help the user understand where he is. It would avoid the loss of context between sections because he would now be clear that there are three sections on the website.

Other solutions could also be considered. Have you got any ideas to suggest?

- Benoît Decomble | 4/14/2008 09:28:00 AM

- Walter Cybis | 3/25/2008 04:26:00 PM

Our usability test lab has a software environment allowing for capture, recording, analysis and full interpretation of observable events during a usability test. Moreover, since we are very interested in user behaviour, verbal comments, facial expressions and eye movements, as well as keeping a record of keystrokes and mouse movement, we also use other software.
In an ideal world, we would like to support our analysis using a single software environment, which would allow us to refine our understanding of user cognitive behaviour in test situations. The ideal solution would:

• allow for observation, capture and recording of all motor activity (mouse, keyboard) in real time, with user eye tracking, on the different screens of the application or Web site being tested.


• benefit from the software’s capacity to process data after the test, such as, task markers, zones of interest, following eye movement, etc.


• assure performance of the application tested, all the while avoiding result data overload, thus guaranteeing the technical efficiency of the proposed solution.
  

The YuTracker Environment

We developed the first version of an independent software solution, which we named YuTracker, to integrate in real-time the data acquired through the eye-tracking system with the data from our usability testing recording software. We work with faceLab™ (Seeing Machines) as our eye-tracking system and we use Morae™ (TechSmith) as our usability testing observation and analysis software.

The primary goal of our YuTracker test environment is to remotely capture raw eye-tracking data and immediately display the eye movements on screen using a cursor. The superposition of the cursor onto the video image captured by our recording and analysis software offers real-time observations of events and activities occurring during the usability test.

This is YuTracker’s space and test computer architecture:

The room where one finds the participant, the moderator and the eye tracking engineer is equipped with:

• Computer U, which runs the application or web page being tested


• Computer E, which runs the eye tracking software and extracts the coordinates of the eye movement on the screen.


• Computer M, which runs the real time observation software and records the test session. This computer also runs the YuTracker software that receives data from computer E and then superimposes the cursor on the video image. This video image corresponds to the application or Web site being tested coming from Computer U thanks to the client-server, remote control software.

The adjacent room where observers can take notes and usability experts can watch the test, is equipped with:

• observer computers connected by remote control to Computer M

Another room available for clients wishing to observe proceedings and take notes, is equipped with:

• observer computers connected by remote control to Computer M

The set up described assures maximum performance of the application being tested, a prerequisite for usability testing.

What are the advantages of our solution?

Advantages obtained by using the YuTracker test environment are noticeable when interpreting user “cognitive strategy” results.

The YuTracker environment makes this type of data interpretation possible at three stages:

• as a test is unfolding, note takers following enriched interaction of eye movement in real time on video, can interpret the true nature of “show stoppers” as they occur with a higher degree of precision.


• immediately after the test, usability experts can employ the RTA technique (retrospective think aloud) to question the participant regarding their visual path.


• during the analysis stage, usability experts take advantage of this environment by using special functions of the capture and support analysis systems to quickly return to specific interactive “incidents.”

Conclusion

We are constantly working towards new means of improving the analysis of the results of our usability tests, as well as trying to deepen our understanding of the cognitive processes of the users who interact with software applications and websites; this initial version is still experimental and we will present significant results in the upcoming months.

- Miriam Berro | 3/18/2008 05:02:00 PM

For some time now I have wanted to add my two cents to the debate surrounding the use of cell phones while driving. The opportunity presented itself a few days ago when an article appeared on cyberpresse.ca, the on line edition of Montréal’s francophone daily, “La Presse.” I could not resist, I simply had to share with you my thoughts and observations.

The article in question was about the Mayor of Trois-Rivières, Québec, Mr. Lévesque, and his misadventure. Busy reading at the wheel, he drove his car into a stop sign.

When questioned about the incident, or should I say accident, Mr. Lévesque explained that he was reading his budget:” I was reading my budget. This is budget time of the year. You know, as Mayor, when one is driving, one makes a call, one is busy with paperwork, one is preoccupied…. one is thinking all the time, so that’s what happens,” he mentioned.

If you think the example of this gentleman is trivial then, as they say in English, “think twice.”

For some time now I have been writing down notes about driver behaviour while travelling regularly between Montreal and Quebec City. There are different forms of distraction at the wheel; I have restricted myself to those within a vehicle.

What then do drivers do behind the wheel? All sorts of things and more: they drive, obviously, but they make calls too, talk or argue with fellow passengers, smoke, listen to music singing along at the top of their lungs, chew gum, eat, drink hot and cold beverages, do their make-up, look for things in the glove compartment, program the navigational system, talk on their CB radios, read e-mail on their Blackberries, read magazines as well (a true story; for 40 minutes a diver reading a pornographic magazine while headed toward Quebec City on Highway 20),day dream while watching the landscape pass by, watch DVDs (as told to me by a young friend) etc etc.

So if you think telephoning while driving is dangerous, which I do not doubt, you would be surprised (well, not that surprised) about different forms of distraction observed in the “cult” environment we refer to as the automobile.

Many studies confirm the multiplicity of tasks required behind the wheel. The table below was borrowed from the 2003 Nerves of Steel inquiry commissioned by the Canada Safety Council and Steel Alliance. 80% of those polled admitted to multi-tasking while driving.
























Other studies on the subject of behind the wheel distraction, including that of the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) and the Executive Agency of the Department for Transport, updated in September 2007, add “smoking while driving” to the list.

The specific sources of distraction among distracted drivers were, in order of frequency:














According to recent studies by insurance companies, combined with those of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), eating while driving is one of the most important sources of distraction. Please check out the Top 10 list of food items one should not eat on the road:




















Here is another example of advice given in California about distraction behind the wheel.

The problem is therefore more complex than simply outlawing, or not, the use of phones while driving. Many forms of distraction can divert our attention from the road. We can try to limit certain ones but in daily life we scare ourselves; for example, when we realise suddenly that we have been driving on automatic pilot and have no recollection whatsoever of a part of the route just driven.

Studies on types of distraction at the wheel are becoming more and more numerous and only improve our knowledge of human cognitive power, our capacity to understand and our security on the road.

- Joelle Stemp | 1/29/2008 03:42:00 AM

During the holidays it is good to get together with friends and family around a video game console and have a hearty laugh. I had the opportunity to play a bit during the break and, force of habit, found myself evaluating the quality of the different games I tried with an eye on their usability. And once again I was surprised to see seemly small details having a strong effect of wearyness on the players. Take for example Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz, compatible with Wii. The game has been around for more than a year but it is a perfect example to illustrate what I mean. I now unveil some of the problems of this, otherwise enjoyable, video game.

Problem I: Adding on other players.

Initially, only one player can play Super Monkey Ball, and the game does not easily indicate how to add additional persons in multi-player mode. To achieve this one must go into the Wii menu. In other words, one must exit the game (although not entirely) in order to activate more controllers: and all this from an obscure sub-menu requiring a strangely labourious procedure considering it to be a context of “playfulness.” It is simply impossible to figure out how to add players if you have not read the instruction manual or if you did not already know…Yet this common task is treated with far more success in other games, such as Wii Sports for example, where the activation of controllers is explicitly displayed by way of a tag on the screen found in the main menu.

Problem 2: Character Select (Multi-Player Mode)

Once the controllers have been added, the characters selected by each player are chosen from a kind of carousel, where the Wii handle is used as a sort of rotating button. That is to say, it must be pivoted on its axis to choose the desired character. One, the metaphor of the rotating button, in principal a good idea, is poorly served by approximate movement, which makes it quite easy to sail over the desired choice of character because the controller has been rotated too far. Two, it is quite difficult to determine your current selection when other players are performing the same maneuver simultaneously, because the colour ring which indicates your selection does not include your position (i.e., Player 1).

Problem 3: Hidden instructions.

When selecting a character, right-handed players click on button A and left-handed players on B. This may seem simple enough but the instruction that indicates this option is inserted amongst a sequence of other instructions, in three parts, at the bottom of the screen, and repeated cyclically. It is therefore possible to never see this message if you are not paying attention to it, and you do not understand that the message changes every five seconds. Being left-handed myself, I did not discover the left-handed mode option until I had played several times.

Problem 4: Instructions unavailable while performing the task at hand.

Super Monkey Ball multi-player mode offers fifty some-odd games, all in the true spirit of “party games,” a potpourri of micro-games designed for fun amongst friends. For each game, Super Monkey Ball displays brief instructions just before advancing to play mode. Now, these are at times impossible to understand without having already played the game. The developers have not thought to offer the option of reading instructions in context, that is to say during the game, in Pause mode. I find this unfortunate because many of the games prove to be incomprehensible and are thus abandoned after only one try.

Problem 5: Lack of an emergency Exit

In play mode it is impossible to exit a game, once in play, to change to another game. Players must either see the game through or reboot the software to choose a different game. This is a major problem because it seriously affects the user’s sense of control. Being confronted with this arbitrary constraint only serves to provoke frustration.

In play mode it is impossible to exit a game, once in play, to change to another game. Players must either see the game through or reboot the software to choose a different game. This is a major problem because it seriously affects the user’s sense of control. Being confronted with this arbitrary constraint only serves to provoke frustration.

Problem 6: No short cuts to commonly repeated tasks.

With this kind of game the competitive spirit of the players is such that they are going to want to measure-up often to the same micro-game: either to confirm their superiority, or regain their lost honour, or simply to repeat a terrific experience. Astonishingly, Super Monkey Ball does not offer a shortcut, at the end of any game, to replay the same micro-game. One must: 1) sit through the medal awards ceremony again (this cannot be interrupted), 2) return to the game selection menu and again choose the same game (amongst a list of 50 games and with the same button-carousel interface mentioned earlier), and 3) re-read the micro-game instructions before advancing to the game…A tedious process which largely reduces the chances of the software being used again.

It is obvious that the producers of Super Monkey Ball, despite their best intentions, did not succeed in making a “usable” product. It is constant exposure to interface gaps and weaknesses that largely reduces the game experience and explains, in part, why players abandon, little by little, multi-player mode. And it is unfortunate too because the game itself is efficient and fun.

In a flourishing industry where the clientele is increasingly diversified and demanding, game developers must consider the usability aspects of their products. A player free of all “bother” will have more fun and the experience will become more memorable for all the right reasons.

And how about you, have you ever been confronted with usability problems while playing a video game? Share your experiences with us. Happy New Year in 2008!

- Pierre-Alexandre Lapointe | 1/16/2008 09:52:00 AM

Well, 2007 is quickly coming to an end with its wheels spinning…but we could not finish it off without passing on our best wishes for continued good health, prosperity and happiness for all the small as well as important things in life, to you, our friends, our clients and our colleagues.

In order to draw a sympathetic outline to the year that draws to a close, here is a small assessment. A fully active year, effervescent and enriching; some highlights regarding our business year:

1. In 2007 the business more than doubled its consulting staff. Eleven of us now serve you, as usability experts and the year should see the addition of more recruits. Keep an eye on the “Team” page of our Web site.

2. July: our company motto changed from “The Link With Your Users” to “Focused on Your Users and Your Business Needs.”

3. August: our Web site was subjected to an overhaul and saw the official launch of the new test lab with its “Eye Tracking Services.” This feature provoked a considerable amount of reaction within the IT community. This interest manifested itself with the commissioning of some very interesting Eye Tracking tests. It is interesting to note that the quality and richness of these test results have proven to be of considerable worth to our clientele.

4. September: we engaged the services of a new chief administrator. It was about time! Our expertise is usability not administration. The growth of an enterprise being a complex situation we prefer to expand gently, all the while giving our clients the service they have come to expect.

5.November: for International Usability Day we organized a “Pecha Kucha” with four guest presenters, each one more interesting than the next. More than thirty fellow attendees partook in the activities of this first ever, but not last, event of its kind. Keep an eye on this blog for dates of the next event.

6. December: This month saw the launch of two training courses; one on Personas, the second on Information Architecture. Soon new courses will be added, as there seems to a growing demand.

7. Finally, our multimedia designer Benoit Decomble put together this best wishes card for your enjoyment at: http://www.yucentrik.ca/fr/flash/yu_card.html. Thanks to you !

To conclude, the success of the enterprise is largely due to the devotion, energy, and ability to adapt of the people who make up the company. Without them the firm amounts to nothing. It cannot grow nor can it offer the quality of service that has built the company’s reputation.

2008 is the year of continuity because in June we hope to see you as we celebrate the company’s fifth birthday. As the saying goes, “Stay Tuned!”!

- Chrystel Black - Yu Centrik | 12/28/2007 02:25:00 PM