Usability and forms, KANA Europe customer summit

Usability and Forms
Caroline Jarrett
FORMS
CONTENT
KANA Customer Summit, 2010

© Effortmark Ltd, 2010
Caroline Jarrett is a usability consultant
specialising in forms and improving content
• Started Effortmark Ltd in 1994
• Working mainly with government
and non-profit clients
– Tax authorities in UK, USA and Australia
– The Open University and other universities
– Other government departments
2

Outline What is usability?
What is usability of forms?
Some top tips
3

The Internet when it started was about
creating an electronic library
• Tim Berners-Lee created the
world-wide web for scientists to
access technical information
• Other early websites said
“We’re here”
• They expected that users
understand everything
they read
4

An early bank website was nearly all about
offering information
General information
5

The first big change was in the dotcom boom
We saw “internet services” starting
• Websites started to
– select useful information
– offer downloadable forms
• The web was all about
– A channel to conventional services
– Internet services were different and
special
6

The bank’s website in 2004;
most of the page is about services
General information
7

The current challenge is about usability;
users expect to do things online – easily
• Users interact with many different types of site:
– Their banking
– Their social networks
– Their shopping
– Their government.
• They expect to be able to do things online.
• They expect it to be easy.
8

Usability is about people doing things easily
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
(ISO 9241:11 1998)
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Usability testing is:
asking a user to try something
• As realistically as possible
• To do whatever the product is for
• A few extra users help (but not many more)
• Using a product is different to looking at it
Ginny Redish (2007) “Letting go of the words” 10

We will try a quick usability test of
HSBC’s home page from 2004
• Ask a user to try using the home page:
– everyone can try it
• As realistically as possible:
– the best we can do in the middle of a conference presentation
• To do whatever the product is for:
– apply for a credit card from the bank
11

Where do you click
to apply for a credit card?
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Now we will try a quick usability test of
HSBC’s personal home page in 2010
• Ask a user to try using the home page:
– everyone can try it
• As realistically as possible:
– the best we can do in the middle of a conference presentation
• To do whatever the product is for:
– apply for a credit card from the bank
13

Where do you click
to apply for a credit card?
14

Some top tips
15

What do people want to do with forms?
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A form is something you deal with
when you’re trying to do something else.
Steve
Teacher
“I want to set up my
iPad on broadband”
Kayley
Full-time mum
“I want to tell my gas supplier
that we’ve changed bank”
17

Will Kayley fill in the form?
22

A form is something you deal with
when you’re trying to do something else.
Steve
Teacher
Kayley
Full-time mum
23

Will Steve fill in the form?
28

Will Steve fill in the form?
33

Some top tips
34

Forms have three layers:
relationship, conversation and appearance
It’s a form because… The layer Works well if….
I’m trying to do something
and that means I have to
do a form
Relationship Users’ goals and business
goals line up
It asks questions and
I supply answers
Conversation The questions make sense
and the conversation flows
It looks like a form Appearance It looks attractive and
organised

Tip #1: relationship
Allow for mismatches between user and business goals
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Tip #2: conversation
Ask questions that users can answer
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Tip #3: conversation
Help users to find the answers
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Tip #4: appearance
Arrange the labels and fields so that users
can see which label goes with which field
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Tip #4: appearance
Don’t put hint text inside boxes
2%
http://bit.ly/dzcnpI
UXmatters.com “Don’t put hints inside text boxes in web forms”
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Tip #4: appearance
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Tip #4: appearance
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Top tip that beats all other tips:
Test your form with your users and their goals
Steve
Teacher
Kayley
Full-time mum
43

Contact details for Caroline Jarrett
Effortmark Ltd
16 Heath Road
Leighton Buzzard
Bedfordshire
LU7 3AB
01525 370379
carolinej@effortmark.co.uk
www.effortmark.co.uk
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Usability and forms, KANA Europe customer summit

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