Utilizing Usability TKWickham Thesis Fall 07

8/3/2019 Utilizing Usability TKWickham Thesis Fall 07

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utilizing usability

senior thesis, winter / spring 2007

T.K.Wickham


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utilizing usability

senior thesis, winter / spring 2007

T.K.Wickham


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project onethesis paper

Human Values in Commerce

AProfleoSaraLittleTurnbull

by Veronique Vienne

rom the collection citizen designer

ed. Steven Heller


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t h e h i s t o r y o u s a b i l i t y

The concept o usability rst emerged during World War Two, at the

height o the rapid advancement in technology that required a new level

o human-machine interaction under conditions that demanded precise

perormance along with an ever-increasing reaction speed. For example,

up until this point all o the main controls o the plane were arrainged in

the cockpit with little-to-no regard as to their unction, relation, or even

importance- a actor which served to severely limit the pilots physical and

mental abilities, and hamper his combat perormance (Lingaard 9). One

researcher has labeled this period the First Wave o Human CenteredDesign (at this time it is known as Human Factors Research, a term which

is still in use by NASA today).

Another example o this human centered design during t his period

can be seen in the work o Graphic Designer Will Burton. During the war

he was employed by the United States Air Force to create instructional

manuals that illustrated the principles o operating a bombers deensive

turret guns. Acting more as an analyst rather than a commercial artist,

he developed a clear method o visual communication by ocusing on

establishing a more natural ow o eye movement and visual hierarchy. In

the case o ball turret gunners, the subsequent logical ow o inormation

to illustrate and explain complex inormation (Raizman 235) helped to

reduce training time by as much as six weeks (236).

In the ollowing years came the rise o the computers, begining with

mainrames, and later on with the more commonplace personal

computer. It was during this Second Wave that the need to improve the

perormance o computer users became readily apparent (Lingaard 9).The study o interactive computer systems came to be known as Human-

Computer Interaction (HCI) and it quickly lead to the development o the

direct manipulation o graphical objects (1963) (Meyers 3), the mouse

(1965), multiple tiled windows (1968), as well as the orerunners o many

programs- drawing, text editing, computer aided drating (CAD), as well as

video games (4), oten inspired by their real-world counterparts. Product

experience was improved through the development o prototypes as well

as scientic attempts to understand the needs o the user- though the

i N t r o D u C t i o N

What is Usability? Taken literally it dictates that the interaction between

the participant and the product (whether it be a service, an item, or

a communication) should be ree o any and all conusion, error, or

irregularity. Most importantly, it should be approchable and usable, i not

by all persons, then by at least by all o its intended target audience.

Usability is as complex a design philosophy as its dictum is simple,

design that is approachable, learnable, satisactory, and logical. Though

still in its relative inancy, it has gone by many names and acronyms:Human Centered Design (HCD), Human Computer Interaction (HCI), User

Centered Design (UCD) the list goes on and on. Though each eld

has thir own specializied needs and methods, they all share a common

thread. All are attempting to create an experience that limits conusion

and ineciency or the user. The user might be a visitor to a website, the

reader o a museaum map, or a consumer aced with a new brand. It is in

this initial interaction that usability plays its vital role.

What is Graphic Design? Also taken literally it means the art or proession

o using design elements (as typography and images) to convey

inormation or create an efect. Like Usability- it too has undergone

numerous re-labeling. It has been dened. Some say hat this plan or

visual communication, can never truly be dened, and to rather think o it

as a method o inuence, or the ultimate tool o persuasion.

Surprisingly though, these two schools o thought have been hesitant-

almost opposed to the idea o utilizing the strengths o the other. It is the

position o this paper that integration between the disciplines must occur,as both schools o thought seem to be ocused on attaining the same

goal- a better world o Design. Consider the results o melding Usability

heuristics with Design aesthetics. The ease o good Usability mixed with

the satisaction o good Design. By utilizing both o these philosophies, it

is possible to create a nal product rmly centered around the core Wants

and Needs o its target audience, thereby resulting in a greater level o

satisactory experience or the user, as well as prot or the client.


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ocus was less on aesthetics and comort but rather on the expected user

tasks and task ow (Lingaard 9).

Though many have argued that the web in and o itsel is the third stage

in Human Centered Design, Dr. Roland Schoefel, a ormer director o

the Siemens Unit or ergonomics and User Interace Design, contends

that it was the efort put into the personal computers themselves, that

constituted the Third Wave. Ater Apple and IBM introduced the personal

computer specically designed or the masses, not just the trained

specialists, they discovered that their sales increased signicantly. This

quest or greater prot proved to be the driving orce or the case ousability in the personal computer, and the results can be seen in the

evolution rom the original line-based text editors to the development

o Microsot Word (Meyers 4). This evolution o direct manipulation was

critical to the later success in the Internet revolution (Scoefel 2) as the act

o hypertexting allows a user to explore the Internet with just a series o

onscreen clicks o the mouse (Meyers 4).

There are still others who think that the Third Wave o Usability is in

act based more upon the deeper user experience that exists between

an individual and a company, product or service-specially with their

website. It does seem to be a distinct possibility, as it has been reported

that roughly 85% o all Internet users are online on a daily basis, with an

equal number even going so ar as to d eem it indispensible, (Business

Benets o Usability 5). It is in this digital world that a website considered

to be usable will on average sell 10 0% or More than one deemed to

be unusable. Where the amount o site trac productivity as well as the

site unction usage o a Usable site will be more than double that o an

unusable one (Schafer 21).

The critical need or usability even extends into the websites architecture

as Internet users are stereotypically a ckle crowd. It has been reported

that something as simple as a page ailing to load in under six seconds

will on average cause the user to become open to distractions, specically

other browsing choices (Business Benets o Usability 5). Or that a

complicated online check-out process will result in a loss o trust with the

consumer as well as a lost sale. In short, the usability o a website is just as

important to the consumer as the product or service being purchased. In

the realm o computers, to lack usability is to invite ailure.

i N a N C i a l v a l u e o u s a b i l i t y

Though the main aim o usability is to provide an easier, more satisactory

product experience or the user, and it in turn- more prot or the

client, oten a handsome return at that. One example listed by usability

practitioner John S. Rhodes is rom IBM, they state that or every $1 it

invests in usability testing on their products, the payback is between $10and $100. (Rhodes 3). Other industry proessionals have placed the rate o

return to range rom 3:1 to 10:1 (Usability in the Real World 2). Compare

this with the 30% o sotware development projects that are abandoned

or canceled, due to a lack o adequate user d esign input, estimated to

be at a loss o almost $80 billion (Usability in the Real World 1), not to

mention the seemingly sel-evident act that no product that ails to make

it to market has ever returned a prot.

But does the nancial value o usability exist only in the realm o prot?

The answer is a surprising no. Consider Usability guru Jakob Neilsons

analogy o a person entering a building using a wheelchair:

In a well-designed building, the access ramp goes directly rom the street to the ront door,

and lets the visitor of near the elevator. In such a building, visitors with and without wheel-

chairs will reach, say, a conerence room on the seventh oor in about the same amount o

time.

I the access ramp is at the back o the building, a visitor in a wheelchair has to move around

the building, enter, and then spend quite some time navigating the ground oor to reach the

elevator. Even though the seventh oor conerence room is theoretically accessible, the less-well-designed building treats visitors in wheelchairs signicantly worse than those who can

walk in rom the street and reach the elevator in seconds.

(Beyond Accessibility: Treating Users with Disabilities as People 5)

Neilson used this analogy to explain how the diference in the amount o

time it takes to complete a task afects the users experience. Now apply

the literal concept o time is money as well as the ideal ecency to a

project. I reaching the conerence room equals a success (whether it be

a sale, a clear communication, or a completed operation) The added time,

efort, and inconvience o the lesser quality design are all impediments


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to that success. Even though both buildings had the same budget and

goals, the one that better understands the customer experience will result

in success.

In the realm o usability, these impediments are rarely as clear as a

misplaced handicapped ramp. Oten the real need o usability is hidden

within a myriad o day-to-day habits, oten- considered routine or just

another aspect o oce culture. But these momentary annoyences quickly

add up to signicant losses. Is it worth taking notice? When one considers

that oce workers spend an average o 5.1 hours ddling with their

machines each week, at a cost o $100 billion annually in lost productivity(Business Benets o Usability 1) the answer is a resounding Yes.

Where do these lost hours come rom? Are Americas workplaces lled

with people poking their computer monitors, shaking their ballpoint

pens, and kicking the copier? It is, but those moments o annoyance pale

in comparison with misguided plans or processes. Considering that an

estimated $50,000 can be saved every year by large customer service call

centers by trimming the average call time by a single second, or that a

SUN Microsystems usability group discovered that poor sotware took an

extra six minutes rom each employee each day- resulting in an estimated

$10 million in lost productivity (Schafer 41). One begins to see how

companies ail to consider the complete liecycle costs or their projects.

Instead, they ocus only on the development budget and schedule.

Support costs are disregarded, as are reports on how many work-hours are

eaten up by inecient work processes (What is Usability 1), resulting in

those aorementioned examples o waste.

This was true in the case o Gitte Lingaard, a usability specialist with theCarleton Human Computer Interaction Institute. Her team or researchers

were called into the oces o a major company to aid in improving the

processing ecincy o the telephone communication help staf in using

the companys inormation processing system. Once in place and directly

observing the work habits o the staf, Lingaard and her team quickly were

able to diagnose the problem.

With the customer on the phone, the operators tended to ollow social

conversational norms in requesting personal inormation such as name

and address, in a manner that was incongruous with the graphical layout

o the computer inormation elds. The operators ...

invariably ollowed these social norms instead o the orm layout on the screen. This orced

them to jump all over the screen, as data belonging together were sepearted in what seemed a

random ashion. Apart rom rendering the interaction cumbersome, this al so had a severe im-

pact on the accuracy o operator perormance. One in every ve operations had to be repeated

to locate a missing entry, which added signicantly to the transaction time.(Lingaard 14)

The team had only just begun to understand the depth o problems

the computer system was guilty o. As with any system, human errors

occurred, however, to make maters worse the program was unable toaccept any incomplete transactions. Rather than allowing the operator

to x the empty eld immediately, it orced the operator to backtrack

sometimes as many as 15 screens to nd the problem. To make matters

worse, as many as 30% o the transactions that were accepted by the

program were later on either rejected or erronious, the delay o which

caused an increase in customer disatisaction as well as providing Full-

Time wok to another 3 5 people (Lingaard 14) in the company.

For this company, a ailure to ollow simple human behavior in the areas

o conversation an reading habits resulted in a loss o productivity,

time, money, and customer satisaction as well as the increased cost o

work hours as well as the employing an unnessesary 35 employees (14).

Problems such as this have caused the the majority o operational costs

are inccured during the maintenance phase o the product s liecycle

(Business Benets o Usability 2). Proo o how poor design can literally

cost a company in the long run.

G r a p h i C D e s i G N v s . u s a b i l i t y (I it saves so much, why is it not widely used?)

At their core, both Usability Experts (UEs) and Graphic Designers seem to

be in pursuit o the same solution- a clear, precise communication that

results in a desired behavior or action.

(or the sake o argument this paper will ocus more on Design that seeks a neutral

communication rather than that o persuasion- to compare the work o a UE with that o

Advertizer is the metaphoical apples-and-oranges)


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So why have the two camps ailed to unite is their common quest, why

do they remain, or the most part in their mutually exclusive roles? Is it

because o the silo culture o business (Lingaard 7) in which individual

departments (not to mention individual teams within those departments)

work in isolation rom one another? Where constant compeition or

internal resouces (promotions, salary, and bonuses) limits the natural

cross-talk, the sharing o experiences- oten resulting in multiple teams

habtiulally re-inventing the wheel, solving the same problem in serial

succession. Product consistency becomes limited, and all o the valuble

knowledge o tips and tricks, as well as unexpected pitalls is quickly lost.

Even i a company is restructured to allow greater cooperation between

departments, personality conicts will still exist between Designers and

UEs. Usability writer Curt Cloninger sums up the divide as being between:

Usability/ Inormation Architecture = the masculine = the let side o the brain = doing =

math/science = the rational = logical action = the articulatable = Mars.

Graphic Design = the eminine = the right side o the brain = being = art = the emotional =

intuitive action = the inarticulatable = Venus. (Cloninger 1)

What makes this divide all the more conusing, and oten incessantly

rustrating is that g ood designers are user ocused, and have been or

years, possibly centuries- just not directly (Olson 5). This irritation is only

increased when conronted by inormation architects and user interace

designers, who sterotypically seem to think that they are the only ones

concerned with the users experience, oten sidelining designers with

statistics and scientic act to support their descisions whereas designers

are let to deend their design choices by way o their eelings and

opinions. Though this may seem as a weak method o planning, what mostdesigners know (and what ew non-Designers can grasp) is the sheer level

that trained intuition plays into each and every action, plan, or solution.

All too oten, UEs eel that elements added or identication and aesthetic

appeal tends to distract the user rom their goal (completing a purchase

or aquiring inormation). The key phrase here is added as most o these

complaints stem rom experiences similar to that o Usability Expert Frank

Spillers. Ater designing a website or a client, which included several

rounds o usability testing to improve the usability, interaction design

and unctionality o the site, the specications were then handed over to

a design agency. The result o which was the addition o the companys

logo as well as branding elements, the addition o which required the

repositioning o several key navigation elements, and (in the eyes o the

UE team) made it a undimentally weaker site (Spillers 3).

The diference with Spillers story, and where it difers rom the rest o the

industrial anecdotes is that this story serves as an example o what UEs

do wrong. Typically a product that has been initiated by UEs (in this case

a website) is later on given to designers to produce, oten being still in

a very rudimentary orm. It is at this point that design changes are thenmade to improve the look and eel o the product. Changes that all too

oten result in the o hijacking the eforts o the UEs (Spillers 3).

Situations such as this are prime examples o the need or both sides to

work together, to establish and ollow a common visual language. I not

rom the very beginning, then at least by the start o the Prototyping

stage. The result can be the diference between a paint-by-numbers

gospel and a looser (but more specic) cluster map o User needs. This

collaberation ensures that both the requirements o he UEs are met, as

well as ensuring the needed creative reedom or the Designer (Olsen 10).

So, who is more right in their methods? Neither. One cannot design by

the scientic method or intuition alone. All to oten, designs that depend

too much upon one or the other runs the risk o being technically correct

on paper or satisying the needs o too ew. In both cases, it results in a

ailed design that is completely out o touch with both the requirements

o the product as well as the needs o the target audience (10).

G r a p h i C D e s i G N & u s a b i l i t y

But what exactly is the role o design in regards to usability? In a word-

aesthetics. Consider the website in Frank Spillers example- had the

design agency ollowed the page specs as they were laid out, the user

would o been able to navigate the site easier and aster. Would it have

been usable? Yes. However, would they enjoy the experience o using the

product? Would that experience ull the necessary product satisaction?


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How would the user eel about the site itsel, rather than just how it

unctioned. What type o dialogue would exist between the user and

the product. More specically, what is that product saying to the user

through its own non verbal communication? How is the user reacting to

the personality o the product?

Studies have shown that humans attribute personality traits to just about

everything, rom cars, to glasses, to blankets, as well as orms o media

such as TV and computers (Porter 4). All products, including websites, have

their own distinct personality whether it is intended or not (5). Thereore it

is in the best interest o both the Designer and the UEs to work together toestablish a distinct, specic message. In this enviroment it is the role o the

Designer to consider all design elements, such as type size, color choice,

placement, as well as the complexity o steps- in the creation o such a

personality, specically one that better serves the product, similarly to

Beatice Wardes Crystal Goblet treatment o typography to better serve

the writers work.

Frank Spillers uses the analogy o a park picnic table to explain this

concept- explaining that users (and UEs) expect a table to be comortable,

and to look similar to the other amiliar elements o a park. With the

addition o a bouquet o resh owers and an elegant tablecloth the

quality o the dining experience is elevated to a higher level (Sellers 3).

Aesthetics (owers, resh linen) have combined with Usability (sturdy table

and bench) to create a ar more satisactory picnic experience together

than they could independently.

One can take this analogy o a picnic table one step urther and apply it to

the idea o product personality and what the user thinks o that product.Does its appearance hint at a certain sense o sophistication (English Oak

or Helvetica), at eciency (articial wood or Myriad) or just at low cost

(particle board or Comic Sans). Is it painted up in garish look at me colors,

or is it composed o a more subdued split-complementary. It all depends

on the role and intended need o that product.

In his article Emotion & Design: Attractive things work better, Don

Norman uses his personal collection o teapots to illustrate this point.

For the record the collection consists o three distinct pots, as well as

a standard metal brewing ball. The pots are: an imitation o a Jacques

Carelman cofeepot or masochists in which the spout is on the same

side and above the pouring handle, a Micheal Graves design by the name

o Nanna so ugly it s appealing, and a tilting pot produced by German

design rm Ronneeldt, (Emotion & Design: Attractive things work better

1). Though all three are capable o producing tea, Norman argures that

the choice o which pot to use is oten determined by the users or any

number o actors besides usability. It could be the current occasion, the

context o the choice, or just the current mood o the user.

For example, the rst cup o tea in the morning is determined by Normansneed or a quick, easy to make cup o tea- thereore the brewing ball

is chosen. In the case o guests, or amily where a bit o elegance is

welcomed- out comes the Nanna. I a more practical teapot is needed,

then he chooses the tilting teapot (4). The moral o the article is explained

in his own words I choose the pot that matches my mood, and when I

do, the tea tastes superb (5). When one chooses the right teapot, or picnic

table, or page layout or the right occasion, the tea experience improves,

thereby generating a greater level o satisaction rom that experience.

Using the logic that products designed or more relaxed, pleasant

occasions can enhance their usability through pleasant, aesthetic

design (8). One can then extrapolate that tasks that are more serious,

straightorward, and unctional are best beneted with a minimal

presence o visual clutter, detail, or imagery. This can be seen in the

package labels o most military and medical supplies. But what o the

high stress event (a re) occuring in a low stress enviroment (a school

or oce). A stairway door ails to open- ater pulling on it, the users begin

to bang on the door, and then to throw their bodies against it (6). A simplesticker with the word pull written upon it in large, easy to read type,

placed above the doorknob in this case could be the diference between

calm and panic, lie and death.

Perhaps the sticker was let of or aesthetic reasons (to limit visual clutter)

or because o the limited uses o a door (opens in, or opens out). But this

is just one example where both sides need to understand the role that

the other plays in design, as well as understanding enough o the user

experience to design accordingly. Any one o those picnic tables has a


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place where it can be o use. Only through the combination o Usabliity

and Design can the how, when, where, and whys be both understood and

provided or.

u s a b i l i t y a p p l i e D

When looking back to The Value o Usability, it may appear that the

efects o usability exist prudominatly on a corporate level, groups that are

too big or efective communication, us vs them mentalities, and internal

competition. However this is ar rom the case, according to PatrickLencioni, author and leader o the Table consulting group. He argues the

case o ve chie dysunctions that plague all organizations, groups, and

teams as being ...

Absence o Trust: stems rom an unwillingness to be vulnerable within the group; team mem-

bers who are not open about mistakes and weaknesses make it impossible to build trust

Fear o Conict: team that lack trust are incapable o engaging in passionate, unltered debate

about important issues

Lack o Commitment: with open discussions and airing o issues, team members rarely buy into

and commit to decisions

Avoidance o Accountability: without committing to a clear plan o action, people oten hesi-

tate to call their peers on actions and behaviors that seem counterproductive

Inattention to Results: ailure to hold people accountable, creates an environment where indi-

vidual needs or needs o groups are put above the collective goals o the team (Long 4)

All are serious aws, and requently they cripple the overall quality o

the nal product. Note that most o the censorship is sel-inicted, oten

limiting improvement o many known aws and excesses in a given

project. This enviroment o sel-service and quarterly survival breeds

project atigue, low moral, and above all- a severe disconnect between theworkers and the project results. Successes are limited, oten based upon

going with the ow and being a team player rather than putting the

needs o the project rst. It is here that the sixth dysunction- the lack

o discipline and persistence, must be ulled by members o the design

team. This is the primary need in terms o intigrating usability into ones

design. It must be done completely and totally, lest one runs the risk o

alling prey to the mistakes that were ignored. Once the teams dedication

to usability has been established, the task o implimenting or integrating a

usability solution can begin.

As or the correct procedure or incorperating usability ... there is no one

denite approach. When the concept o Usability evolved and into its

more specialized counterparts, the working proccedure evolved as well.

However it can be generally organized into our primary stages (allthough

preliminary research is rst on the list, it is just standard procedure

or both good Designers and Usability experts and as such will not be

discussed here)

1) preliminary research

2) observation

3) evaluation o needs

4) brainstorming5) production

o n

Once the preliminary inormation is gathered and reviewed, it is then time

to extend that research into the actual enviroment where the product will

be used. The observation can be an unobtrusive video camera, or it can

be an actual observer (Maguire 134). I a live person is to be present, it is

best that they stay out o the way as much as possible to avoid indirectly

inuencing outcomes either through non-verbal communication, or by

cluing the subject as to what is being measured through noticeable note

taking. The tester is allowed to ask questions o the subject, but only i

specic clarication is needed.

One important element to note- is what enviromental actors are afecting

the product / user interaction? Factors such as ambient noise levels may

not mean much- unless the client is a major Telco call center in which

concentration is limited due to the high level o conversations going on at

once, or in the case o a actory where many employees may be wearing

hearing protection (Long 3). For those clients, a product design that

relies on audio alerts is most likely to act only as a distraction with efects

ranging rom an annoyance in the case o the Telco, to a serious health

and saety hazard on the actory oor.

Oten, the real value o on-site visits is when the Usability Expert notices

an unexpected habit, or a repetitive task that does nothing towards the

products creation, such as what Frank Long noticed while on one such visit:


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While researching a touch screen interace or a printing machine, we discovered that during a

particular phase o the clea ning process the operators hands would get soiled with ink. In order

to complete the process the operator had to interact with the touch screen, transerring the

ink onto it. This made the remainder o the instructions and eedback dicult to read- until the

screen was cleaned..

Had Long not been there personally, its highly likely that this problem

would never have been noticed, identied as a problem, let alone be xed.

The worker would still be smearing the screen with ink, the companys

operating costs would still be that much higher due to lost time and

materials. By understanding what efects people, designers are able to

ulll both the clients requirements as well as their users expectations(Givechi et al. 308).

e n N d

By combining traditional methods o data gathering (surveys, interviews,

user diaries) with less-traditional exercises as card sorting (FOOTNOTE

participants are given a set o cards with a group o items written on

them. They are then asked to group the cards along with other related

items- this can aid designers in understanding underlying relationships

in a group that is seemingly random) (Maguire 138). A variant on this

technique is also known as card elimination in which a user is told a

number o eatures (or example-seven) o which, only ve can make it

into the next iteration o the product. By switching the question rom

wants to needs, the design team can save both time and money by

trimming development so that it only ulls actual needs. It is here

that company policies and governmental standards (i they apply) are

consulted to ensure legality.

b n n gOten observations drawn directly rom the source provide a greater

insight into what the solution should be (Givechi et al. 308). However,

sometimes that process requires a bit o rening as well as some mental

play. For the usability expert, that consists o a stack o blank computer

paper, a set o markers, and an hour or two o just hammering out ideas.

In the case o Paper prototyping whole hours o coding time can be

saved by experimenting with the visual ow o the website, adding new

eatures and links- with just the swish o a pen or the tear o a sheet. It also

serves as a per ect time to explain the concept o the human computer, a

testing method in which one person pretends to be the computer, while

the other attempts to perorm a set o required tasks. The ease o use,

visual hierarchy, and ow o the website are evaluated, while common

mistakes such as to small input elds, inadequate warning, or the lack

o website identity can be resolved long beore an ocial prototype is

made. This brainstorming process is then opened up to a wider range

o people.

This group is commonly reered to as an unocus group by UEs, rather

than a ocus group, as its job is to provide alternate modes o thought

and insight into a paticular problem rather than approve or dissaprove agiven solution. The shit in ocus is substancial, as development is still in

a ormulative stage, the group is more likely to rely on what they are told

it can do/provide rather than by what is literally sitting in ront o them.

Also, it is in this greater chance or error that unexpected discoveries are

made- to the team, a wrong usage o the product or site is oten a good

thing- or it shows how people actually interact with the product, and a

better design is developed.

p d c n

Once pre-production begins, and the development o prototypes

achieves rapid prototype stage, in which production is continual. Oten

a combination o paper prototypes, computer thumbnails printouts,

and Rapid Application Development sotware are utilized or the near

constant testing. The results are gathered and evaluated- always with one

eye on the empirical average- and the other on the latest batch o results.

At times the ideas o the unocus group and the parallel problem design

are utilized inormally in-house, as multiple small teams may orm- or

unknowing volunteers are ound amongst the staf.

C a s e s t u D i e s a N D e x a m p l e s

ox o G d G

OXO ounder Sam Faber and his wie had a problem. Though they both

loved to cook, she was beginning to have diculty in gripping the various

kitchen tools (the potato peeler in paticular) due to her developing

arthritis. Out o this dillema came the Good Grips line o kitchen


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2322

is particularly dangerous in Spanish speaking households as Once

translates to eleven)

Currently Wol is in the process o designing a better label or prescription

bottles as part o an initiative by the American College o Physicians

Foundation. They plan on unveiling the redesign soon.

2 - c g n g

The iconic amber medicine bottle recently turning 50, and it looks it. Other

than the addition o a child-proo cap in the 1970s, this stalwart o the

pharmacy world looks the exact same as when it was introduced. Deborah

Adler and ClearRx look to change all that, or the better.

It began when her Grandmother Helen accidently swallowed a dose

o medication intended or her husband Herman, though she escaped

the incident relatively unharmed, she is in the minority or users to do

so (in a recent Target poll, 60 percent o prescription users have used

that medication incorrectly). The precription bottle with its myriad o

annoyances and problems

1) The company / stores logo dominates in visual hierachy

2) Numbers abound, with no distinction between codeing, and instructions

3) Poor color combinations or alerts and text

4) The curved surace is dicult to read on, as only a ew lines at a time are visable.

5) Minute typography - results in most people ignoring the medication user manual

was almost deadly. The new label layout as well as a bottle design by

Klaus Rosburg (which literally turns the old design on its ear). Included

with the bottles or pills and liquids are the ollowing improvements:

Easy I.D. - The name o the drug is printed on the top o the bottle, so its visible i kept in a drawer.Code red - The red color o the bottle is Targets signatureand a universal symbol or caution.

Inormation hierarchy. - Adler divided the label into primary and secondary posit ions, separated

by a horizontal line. The most important inormation (drug name, d osage, intake instructions) is

placed above the line, and less important data (quantity, expiration date, doctors name) is

positioned below.

Upside down to save paper. - Klaus Rosburg, a Brooklyn-based industrial designer hired by

Target, came up with an upside-down version that stands on its cap, so that the label can be

wrapped around the top. Every piece o paper in the package adds up to one eight-and-a-hal-

by-ourteen-inch perorated sheet, which elimina tes waste and makes lie easier or pharmacists.

tools,which instantly became a hit because they were dishwasher sae,

aesthetically pleasing, afordable, and above all: all o their handles were

coated with a thick sot rubber grip which unctioned just as well when

wet or dry.

Though he was initially inspired by his wies arthritis, he reused to limit

the product line to just arthritics, and in doing so he established an

inernationally recognized, award-winning line o houseware goods, and

ater just two years on the market the company reported sales in execess

o $3 million, and in the interim has continued to grow at a rate o 50%

per year.

t g p c n b r d g n

1 - w d n g

When Micheal Wol paged through dusty, yellowing pharmacists logs

rom the 1890s at the Smithsoniam National Museaum o American

Histoty, he ound the olloing entry rom a druggists encounter with a

conused patient: Shake Well, the patient read outloud questioningly

to the pharmacist rom his prescription bottle label, Does that mean I

shake mysel?

Wol was in the process o researching the level at which Americans

are able to comprehend the directions on their medicine bottles. An

Important issue, as currently an estimated 1.5 million patients are hurt

each year rom simple medication errors, o which an estimated one third

o these incidents occurred in the home. The issue at hand becomes even

more potentially dangerous when one considers the expected upswing

in the number o seniors as the Baby Boomers slowly. Its just simple

mathematics- i the yearly medicine intake has increased to 6 or 7 types

each year as opposed to 4 or 5 (in 2002) the chances or mistakes to occur

increases exponentially.

However, diagnosing the problem is conounded when one considers that

the conusing instructions on the bottle are oten the doing o the

individual pharmacist- resulting in such awkward instructions as Take

twice daily, Take two pills 4 times a day, or Once a day (a problem that


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2524

u n D g n

Not a Case Study per-say, the idea o Universal Design poses a airly

interesting ideology, one in which products are made to be as accessable

to as many diferent types o users as possible. What makes it interesting

(As explained by the Georgia Tech research team) is how it also looks to

utilize the strengths o certain designs or unintended (non-d isabled) users.

One example o universal design is a cell phone created or the hard o hearing; it would also be

useul to people talking on their phones in noisy envi ronments. Another is a cell phone designed

or the blind; it could be useul to people in situati ons where their visual attention is somewhere

else, such as a person driving a car.

i N C o N C l u s i o N

As this paper has shown, the elds o Graphic Design and Usability,

though they are oten put at odds with one another proessionally, they

tend to discover that they are seeking the same goal, a better world

o communication and integraded technology. Though progress may

be slow, measured only in the small victories (a soter carrot peeler, a

more successul logo, a better and prettier website) the changes are

still occuring. Consider the revolution in pharmaceutical containers, a

resensitization between citizen and election, the inkless touchscreen

printer interace. Each and every one o these products was designed

becuase there was a gunuine need or them. Each one o these items were

designed in regards to the needs or both unctionality and aesthetics.

Perhaps the Design world (and it truely will be the World in the coming

decade) is beggining to realize the simple truth behind Don Normans

words ... Attractive things do work better.

Better yet, the world is beggining to apply this truth once again.

Green is or Grandma. - Adler and Rosburg developed a system o six colored rub-

ber rings that attach to the neck o the bottle. Family members choose their own iden-

tiying shade, so medications in a shared bathroom will never get mixed up.

An ino card thats hard to lose. - A card with more detailed inormation on a drug (common

uses, side efects) is now tucked behind the label. A separate, expanded patient-education

sheet, designed by Adler, comes with three holes so it can be saved in a binder or reerence.

Take daily.- Adler avoided using the word onceon the label, since i t means eleven in Spanish .

Clear warnings - Adler decided that many o the existing warning symbols stuck on pill bottles

dont make much sensethe sign or take on an empty stomach,or i nstance, looked like a

gas tank to her so together with graphic designer Milton Glaser, or whom she now works,

she revamped the 25 most important.

Following the critical success o her thesis work, Adler approached the

FDA with her ideas, but her work was quickly picked up by Target and

produced in record time. The result is a striking shit in Design ocus- a

design that is both easy to use as well as being aesthetically pleasing.

D g n D c c

Though established in 1998, this AIGA initiative ound its true calling in

the Chad lled days o November 2000. In the wake o an election decided

by the courts, rather than the people it was clear to the group that there

was a need to make the interaction between government and citizen

more understandable and ecient. It has since started to collaborate with

government policy makers as well as academic researchers to better serve

the needs o the American voter (in all languages).

In the last seven years, the initiative has added Cook County, Illinois, the

state o Oregon, and the National institute o standards and Technology

(NIST) to its client list. The most recent development, the adoption o

their recommended best practices or ballot and polling operations

(along with a ull set o samples to be used and modied by local oces)

by the Election Assistance Commission (EAC). The development and

implementation o interaction design principals will be key in reducing

the level o conusion, come November 2008.

In time, this initiative may move on to other much needed Re-Designs,

with Tax orms being high up on this authors list.


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2726

Schoefel, Dr. Roland. The concept o Product Usabili ty, a standard to help manuac turers to help

consumers.International Organization o Standards Bulletin. March 2003. 3 March 2007

Spillers. Graphic Design vs. Usability.27 April 2004. 12 March 2007

American Institute or Graphic Arts (AIGA). 23 Nov 2007. Design or Democracy.

Design Council. 18 Jan 2007. OXO Good Grips.

eMaxHealth. North Western university. 29 Nov 2006. Many Patients dont Understand Precription

Medicine Labels.

Georgia Research Tech News. Georgia Tech. 19 Dec 2005. Accessibility Analysis: Researchers

Evaluate ProductsUsability or People with Disabilities and Recomend Design Improvements.

b

Lencioni, Patrick. The Five Dysunctions o a Team: A Leadership Fable. Jossey-Bass, 2002.

Raizman, David. History o Modern Design. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2004.

Usability, Gaining a Competitive Edge. ed. by Judy Hammond et. al. Boston: Kluwer Academic

Publishers, 2002.

Schafer, Eric. Institutionalizat ion o Usability: a Step-By-Step Guide.San Francisco: Addison-

Wesley. 2004

W

American Institute or Graphic Arts. 2007.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. 2006.

The Usability ProessionalsAs sociation (upa). 2006

W o r k s r e e r e N C e D

Warde, Beatrice. The Crystal Goblet.The Crystal Goblet, Sixte en Essays on Typography. 1955. The

Sylvan Press.

W o r k s C i t e D

a c

Business Benets o Usability.Usabil ity Proessionals Association (upa). 2006. 12 March 2007

Cost-benet analysis o usability engineeri ng techniques.Proceedings o the Human Factors

Society 34th Annual Meeting. Human Factors Society. Santa Monica, CA. 1990

Usability in the Real World.Usa bility Proessionals Association (upa). 2006. 12 March 2007

What is Usability.Usability Proessionals Association (upa). 2006. 12 March 2007

Bernard, Sarah. New York. The Perect Precription- How the pill bottle was made- sensibly and

beautiully.18 April 2005.

Cloninger, Curt. A List Apart. Usability E xperts are rom Mars, Graphi c Designers are rom Venus.

28 July 200

Givechi, Rocshi et al. Impact: Inspiring Graphic Design through Human Behaviors. Design

Studies. ed. Audrey Bennett. New York. Princeton Architectural Press, 2006. 306-10

Lingaard, Gitte. Deconstructing Silos: The Business Value o Usability in the 21st Century.

USABILITY, Gaining a Competitive Edge. Ed. Judy Hammond et al.. Boston. Kluwer Academic

Publishers, 2002. 3-20.

Long, Frank. rontend.com. One Size Fits Nobody

Myers, Brad A.A brie History o Human Computer Interaction Technology.ACM interactions. Vol.

5, no. 2 March 1998. 44-54

Neilson, Jakob. Jakob Nielsons Alertbox. Beyond Accessibility : Treating Users with Disabilities as

People.11 November, 2001

Norman, Don. jnd.org. Emotion & Design: Attractive things work better.2002

Porter Josua. Where Visual Design Meets Usability- An Interview wi th Luke Wroblewski, Part 1.22

June 2006. 12 March 2007

Rhodes, John S.. A Business Case or Usability.24 October 2001. 12 March 2007


15/28

2928

project twoorm redesign

A Better Tighty Whitey(11 April 04)

a blog post rom Airbag Industries

(http://www.airbagindustries.com/)


16/28

3130

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3332

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

0

Visual Heirachy Issue between Memorial Union and Incident ReportThe Memorial Union label is in conict or attention & it distracts rom the real label o the page.

Also, the combination o Italics, all Caps, and Underlin e give the title a harsh emotional eel - not

somthing one wants to encounter in the case when reporting is less than voluntary

Line Leading is too tight or average usageDicult to read, Dicult to ll out, Dicult or the oce to read.

Time & Location elds are the same size

Wording both Leads the User & leaves them - too open ended

Instructions are lacking in what they request & the required tone

Big blank eld is near-impossible to use when wr iting out a ull detailed

report, ESPECIALLY one that is intended to be read by someone other

than the writer at a later date.

Witness / es ... am I supposed to have a witness ... two o them?

Why is Reported by less important that the witnesses names?

Address and Phone elds are the same size

Why is the title or position o the Reporter more important than their

name visually?What i this was a student reporting on a Proessor, or a worker against their boss?


18/28

3534

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

0

Visual Heirachy Issue between Memorial Union and Incident Report

Line Leading is too tight or average usage


Wording both leads the User & leaves it too open ended


Big blank eld is near-impossible to use when wr iting out a ull detailedreport, ESPECIALLY one that is intended to be read by someone other






name visually?

Visual Heirachy Issue is resolved, also the name & address is added

Line Leading is now based upon handwriting test

Time & Location elds are now an appropriate size

Now the subject matter is a choice ... as well as the option o Other

The required tone is explained, as well as what is needed

Now, the option o 1 or 2 witnesses is available ... but unexplained.

Right at the top the User has both Subject and Reporter

Address & Phone elds are now an appropriate size

No longer listed ... i needed, it must be or all people or no one


19/28

3736

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

0

Visual Heirachy Issue between Memorial Union and Incident Report

Line Leading is too tight or average usage


Wording both leads the User & leaves it too open ended


Big blank eld is near-impossible to use when wr iting out a ull detailedreport, ESPECIALLY one that is intended to be read by someone other






name visually?

Visual Heirachy Issue is resolved, also the name & address is added

Line Leading is now based upon handwriting test

Time & Location elds are now an appropriate size

Now the subject matter is a choice ... as well as the option o Other

The required tone is explained, as well as what is needed

Now, the option o 1 or 2 witnesses is available ... but unexplained.

Right at the top the User has both Subject and Reporter

Address & Phone elds are now an appropriate size

No longer listed ... but it needs to be or all persons listed

Key words are Bolded, nal instructions or Witnesses are added, certain

lines are sotened to increase visual hierachy, and the title is enlarged.

Final result: A orm that is easier to use, easier to read, and easier to re-

erence / skim or key inormation.

Time:

Describe the Incident in Full Detail, Remain as Impartial in your Report as possible (answer Who, What, When,Where, and Why)

When you are nished lling out this Incident Report, have a witness (if possible) review the contents and sign below.

Witness: Witness:

Reported by:

Subject:Natureof Incident:

Date of Incident:

Incident Report

Location:


20/28

3938

The overuse o this orm or copies has lead to a wearing down o this

grey bar- very hard to read once it has been digitally scanned,

The use o Black on a 50% grey background was hard to read beore,

now its near impossible. Especially condidering its the headline.

Name & Local Phone elds are the same size

Hard to write in such a small space

The user is given a horizontal boz in which to wr ite out a list

(the blank space dosent help or wrting out the details. Also, not much room)

Bad. Just Bad. Near impossible to ll out, inormation that should read

horizontal is given a at square (not rectangle) to live in

same amount o space or your supervisors name as or the entire list o

your duties...

(also, why is soo much room given to your phone number?)

Name, Address, and Phone elds are the same size


21/28

4140

The overuse o this orm or copies has lead to a wearing down o this

grey bar- very hard to read once it has been digitally scanned,

The use o Black on a 50% grey background was hard to read beore,

now its near impossible. Especially condidering its the headline.

Name & Local Phone elds are the same size

Hard to write in such a small space

The user is given a horizontal boz in which to wr ite out a list

(the blank space dosent help or wrting out the details. Also, not much room)

Bad. Just Bad. Near impossible to ll out, inormation that should read

horizontal is given a at square (not rectangle) to live in

same amount o space or your supervisors name as or the entire list o

your duties...

(also, why is soo much room given to your phone number?)

Name, Address, and Phone elds are the same size

A digital version o the orm is now availale to print when needed

The Background has been reduced to 15%

Name o the applicant is given special prominence,while phone numbers / addresses are given more traditional space

A special section is designated, and by placing the number rst, the reader is able to

ascertain the hierachy that much easier

Lines have now been provided, as well as a clearer explanation o what is requested

The area has now been broken up into a series o three columns, less o an essay is now

requested, and more or a brie set o guidlines.


22/28

4342

- Frank. Long

One Size Fits Nobody

http://inocentre.rontend.

com/inocentre/articles/inter-

aceintheenviroment.html

project threeOn Site Visit

le researching a touch screen inter ace

a printing machine, we discovered that

ng a particular phase o the cleaning

ocess the operators hands would get

ed with ink. In order to complete the

cess the operator had to interact with

touch screen, transerring the ink onto

his made the remainder o the instruc-

s and eedback dicult to read- until

the screen was cleaned..


23/28

4544

sea spray

dominantwinddirection

small sand dunes

wind blasted hill

a small birds ootprint

no sea spray

inthelee side otheoutcropping

gnd cd

on bc, or.

The Location: Ona Beach, OR

The Assignment: Over the course o 2 hours, identiy some aspect o

your Thesis Project and do somthing that relates to it.

My Solution: To conduct an impromptu On-Site visit, in order to learn somthing

specic about this area that might impact a uture Design project

Natures Elemets

Human Impact

and how they interact


24/28

4746

trad. trail markers

a seat cut into a tree

an old campre

no sea spray

sea spray

winds efect on the hill & houses

The dominant wind / sea spray patterns o the coast, very improtant to consider when designing or:

1) Beach goes

2) The residents

3) The elements themselves.


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project ourSample UsabilityAssessment Test


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Documents

Utilizing Usability TKWickham Thesis Fall 07