Jared M. Spool Sessions

Tutorial: 22. Web Sites That Work: Designing With Your Eyes Open

Jared M. Spool, User Interface Engineering, USA
Tara Scanlon, User Interface Engineering, USA
Carolyn Snyder, User Interface Engineering, USA

Benefits
Learn the design factors affecting users' success in finding information on the web. Examine commercial sites where the authors have performed usability tests. Includes unpublished results of recent usability tests involving eye-tracking in which users defined their own tasks.

Origins
Originally presented in CHI 98. Updated with new research results.

Features

• why on-site search engines may hurt a site's usability, and what might make them more effective
• importance of links, and factors that contribute to their success
• how to design and conduct usability tests on web sites
• why white space and "readable" text may damage usability
• why it is impossible to design site navigation in a vacuum
• page layout factors that make a difference

Audience
Anyone with experience designing or creating content for a web site, including interface designers, developers, writers, usability professionals, and marketers. No technical knowledge necessary. Usability testing experience useful.

Presentation
Lecture/discussion, and numerous examples including screen shots, video, and live demonstrations.

Instructors
Jared M. Spool is founding principal at User Interface Engineering (UIE). He has more than 16 years of experience conducting usability evaluations and is on the faculty of the Tufts University Gordon Institute. Tara Scanlon is a Principal at UIE where she specializes in contextual inquiry and low fidelity prototyping techniques. Carolyn Snyder is a Principal at UIE. She teaches paper prototyping techniques to development teams and facilitates usability tests.

Related Tutorials

• 2. User Interface Design for the Web (Saturday evening)
• 6. Practical Usability Methods in Web Site Design (Sunday)
• 7. Visual Design for E-Commerce and Performance Tools (Sunday)
• 32. Current Issues in Web Design: Building the Network Economy (Monday evening)