Web Usability on a Budget

Not all projects have the budget for UX designers; as a result, experience in disciplines such as user research, interaction design, and information architecture are often expected of all developers on a team. Fortunately, these arcane-sounding topics are far from impossible to grasp for mere programmer mortals. In this session, you'll learn some easy tricks to make your sites more approachable and discover ways to help develop an emotional connection between your apps and your users.

Transcript

1. Web Usability on a Budget
   Tim G. Thomas
   Austin Code Camp 2012
   

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2. Your Presenter
   Tim G. Thomas
   Senior Consultant
   Headspring
   
   tim@timgthomas.com
   @timgthomas
   timgthomas.com
   

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3. Thanks to Our Sponsors
   

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4. Agenda
   What is Usability?
   Usability in Action
   Usability in the Wild
   Q&A
   

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5. What is Usability?
   

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6. “Usability”
   “Ease of Use”
   “Learnability”
   “Comfort”
   

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7. Tenets of Usability
   

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8. Do what users expect
   Minimize cost of failure
   Work the way users work
   Keep things clear/simple
   Tenets of Usability
   

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9. Do what users expect
   Minimize cost of failure
   Work the way users work
   Keep things clear/simple
   Tenets of Usability
   

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10. Tenets of Usability
    Do what users expect
    Minimize cost of failure
    Work the way users work
    Keep things clear/simple
    

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11. Tenets of Usability
    Do what users expect
    Minimize cost of failure
    Work the way users work
    Keep things clear/simple
    

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12. Tenets of Usability
    Do what users expect
    Minimize cost of failure
    Work the way users work
    Keep things clear/simple
    

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13. Usability in Action
    

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14. Focus on Tasks, Not Actions
    

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15. Focus on Tasks, Not Actions
    

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16. Emphasize Important Things…
    

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17. Emphasize Important Things…
    

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18. … and Deemphasize Infrequent
    Actions
    

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19. … and Deemphasize Infrequent
    Actions
    

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20. Learn (and Use) User Language
    

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21. Learn (and Use) User Language
    

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22. Use Symbology/Iconography
    

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23. Use Symbology/Iconography
    

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24. Add Realistic Interactions
    

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25. Add Realistic Interactions
    

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26. Add a Splash of Color
    

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27. Usability in Action
    •  Focus on Tasks, Not Actions
    •  Emphasize Important Things
    •  … and Deemphasize Infrequent Actions
    •  Learn (and Use) User Language
    •  Use Symbology/Iconography
    •  Add Realistic Interactions
    •  Add a Splash of Color
    

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28. Thanks for Coming!
    Questions?
    http://spkr8.com/t/11561
    

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