(Self-)service design!Eye-tracking Findings That Will Help You Design Forms That Everyone Can Use!!!Caitlin Rinn, University of Baltimore!Noël Alton, University of Baltimore!Kathryn Summers, University of Baltimore!Kath Straub, Usability.org!!

Why forms?

< What are the *%#@ password requirements??

7

There are MANY of tiny decisions •  Where  do  the  instruc.ons  go?  •  Should  they  be  visible  or  behind  a  link?  •  How  many  sec.ons  or  pages?  •  Where  do  the  labels  go?  •  How  do  we  show  which  fields  are  required?  •  How  do  we  show  what’s  required  in  a  field?  •  How  do  we  communicate  that  the  user  didn’t    do  what  we  wanted?  

•  How  do  we  word  rights  and  responsibili.es?  

 

In a world of self-service design, If you can’t fill the form, you cant [X] o  Order on-line o  Change your mailing address o  Get a parking spot at Uni o  Access internet @ the conference o  Register to vote

o  Get needed government benefits

Bargas-Avila, Orsini, Urwyler & Opwis (2011)

Use  this    

Use  this    

Seckler, Heinz, Bargas-avila, Opwis & Tuch (2014)

Bojko, Aga and Schumacher, R. (2008).

Use  these  

*   Use  this    

[Required]

* Not published, but based on Toronto Public Library UT & accessibility field research

Our studies … •  Where  do  the  instruc.ons  go?  •  Should  they  be  visible  or  behind  a  link?  •  How  many  sec.ons  or  pages?  •  Where  do  the  labels  go?  •  How  do  we  show  which  fields  are  required?  •  How  do  we  show  what’s  required  in  a  field?  •  How  do  we  communicate  that  the  user  didn’t    do  what  we  wanted?  

•  How  do  we  word  rights  and  responsibili.es?  

 

Participants

18 Expert Users (American University Students and Community members) •  Ages 18 – 47; 72% male

25 At-Risk Users •  Ages 28 – 77; 52% male •  9 Older users (over 60)

What did they do? •  REALM •  Participants each completed several forms

•  Parking permit"•  User name and password"•  Medical/Optical clinic intake form"

Study design:! ""

Participants

REALM health literacy reading test

Participants

At risk reading Demographics At risk reading levels 8% at or below 3rd grade level 16% 4th-6th grade level 48% 7th – 8th grade 28% High school +

Method

Participants completed a series of forms to •  Voter registration •  Get a parking permit •  Sign in at a medical clinic •  Participate in future studies (paper)

Method

Study design:!"3 x 3 x 3 design / Latin square presentation""Variables"•  Instruction placement"•  Instruction visibility"•  Form Layout"

Measured"•  Errors"•  Looking patterns/Instruction engagement"

""" ""

Method

Instruction location """ ""

Top of Section

Above Field

Right of Field

Method

Instruction visibility"""" "" Visible Hidden -Button Hidden -Link

Method

Wizard/Gated Accordion Long page

Page layout"""" ""

Findings

Low literacy participants Took twice as long do complete the task and they often didn’t finish. (30 mins vs. 60 mins)

Findings

^^ Instructions above the field got most notice

Instruc.on  Loca.on  

Instruction Engagement

User Type

Expert Low Lit Over 60

Above 62.78 116.47* 89.5

@ Right 45.65 57.65 43.56

Section head 72.33 60.12 70.43

Findings

Older users & experts engaged when needed Low literacy users tended not to engage

< No engagement with the instruction links

Findings

Instruction Engagement (Clicks)

User Type

Expert Low Lit Over 60

Button 2.18 .65 2.56

Text Link 3.18 1.13* 3.00

Visible Text 5.29 4.88 5.50

Input Errors

User Type

Expert Low Lit Over 60

Button 2.67 3.24 1.78

Text Link 1.88 4.75* 2.88

Visible Text 1.94 4.13 1.88

^^ ^^ They looked more but comprehension was shaky

< People clicked links more often than buttons

Instruc.on  Visibility  

Findings

^^ ^^ At-risk users didn’t predict how the accordion would look.

Form  Layout  

Accordion Percent Completion

User Type Expert Low Lit Over 60

Step One 100% 100% 100%

Step Two 100% 75% 75%

Step Three 100% 56% 63%

Step Four 100% 38% 50%

Wizard Percent Completion

User Type

Expert Low Lit Over 60

Step One 100% 100% 100%

Step Two 100% 75% 88%

Step Three 100% 81% 100%

Step Four 100% 94% 100%

Scrolling Percent Completion

User Type

Expert Low Lit Over 60

Step One 100% 100% 100%

Step Two 100% 81% 88%

Step Three 100% 81% 88%

Step Four 100% 94% 100%

Findings

Low literacy findingsLow literacy participants were often surprised by new sections of the page opening up.

Findings

Low literacy findingsParticipants had ideas and expectations about how the interaction might work, but tended not to try them spontaneously. Usernames and passwords were foreign to them. Most didn’t have an email. Low engagement with help information •  Didn’t look at buttons / links •  If they did, they tended not to engage

Findings

< Participants did not read the page heading

Findings

Experts expect the form to fix it for them

Recommendations

Instruction location """ ""

Top of Section

Above Field

Right of Field

Use  this    

Recommendations

Instruction visibility"""" ""

Visible Hidden -Button Hidden -Link

2nd  choice  Use  this    

Recommendations

Page layout"""" ""

Wizard/Gated Accordion Long page

Don’t  use  this  (!!)  

Work in progress

•  What sorts of validation feedback engage users and reduce errors?

Validation

How does environment influence success?

Field research

Is mobile different? Many of the low literacy participants use a smart phone.

Mobile

Thanks! Questions? For questions later, contact kath@usability.org