Talk:Web usability

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment
This article is or was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Mbayer2018. Peer reviewers: Mbayer2018.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 12:47, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

Suggestions for External Links
Here are some external links related to my contribution to the article: these are pioneers and leaders in web usability concepts: --MB 14:26, 5 October 2017 (UTC)
 * Steve Krug: sensible.com
 * Jacob Nielsen
 * Nielsen Norman Group

Well, a couple that spring to mind are: I've added the above two in an HTML comment, so it only need be removed to have them displayed.
 * Jakob Nielsen: Usable Information Technology — Many thought provoking articles, especially from his Alertbox column.
 * User Interface Engineering — Articles on designing highly usable interfaces.

Lee Carré 06:36, 9 May 2007 (UTC)


 * If there's no objection within a few days, I'll uncomment them -- Lee Carré 03:30, 10 May 2007 (UTC)
 * In general, I think external links should generally be to specific articles, but this is just my interpretation of WP:EL. I'd rather just have an internal link to Jakob Nielsen (usability consultant) than an external to any of his articles.  In my opinion, Jakob's articles are poorly researched and heavily promotional.  The UIE articles are far worse in quality of research and amount of promotion.  Given the huge amount of online material available, I don't think we need to be choosing links to low-quality information written as promotional pieces. --Ronz 04:16, 10 May 2007 (UTC).


 * To justify, I'd like to make it clear that if the website is not usable it means that no one will be interested in it thus its implementation was the gist of usability [Thabiso Mosakeng|LUCT| Faculty of Information Technology]. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 41.203.190.126 (talk • contribs) 11:14, 1 June 2011


 * An interesting point of view. However, I agree with your first point; my reasoning was to direct those people actually wanting to learn about usability (considering the lack of software & websites designed with usability in mind) to some useful information/articles, rather than just a describing what usability is.
 * If you know of more refined information/articles that would be great. As a "do it properly" standards-based web developer I'm always looking to improve my knowledge about such things. Perhaps it would be better to continue a discussion about good usability data/research etc. on my talk page -- Lee Carré 18:46, 12 May 2007 (UTC)
 * Great. No mention of Nielsen or his highly readable alertbox series in the whole article. Thanks a lot. Jidanni (talk) 20:23, 11 February 2008 (UTC)

Master's dissertation by Kay McMahon (Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen (UK), 2005): "An exploration of the importance of website usability from a business perspective" is available online (PDF, 593KB) at http://www.flowtheory.com DrDaveHPP 11:46, 24 October 2007 (UTC)

I'd like to propose an article on how I created personas to represent my site's users. I put over 10 hours into writing the item, not to mention hours more researching the reasons/purposes visitors to my site have as well as their demographics. I think it's valuable as a case study as well as for the easy to implement how-to tips it gives to beginners. http://seoroi.com/case-studies/4-5-personas-of-my-seo-site/ —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.57.252.21 (talk) 19:19, 12 April 2009 (UTC)

In this field, there are a lot of daunting texts, but I have found Steve Krug's work to be the most accessible and useful. Wanted to put an external link to a couple of his sites or usability slideshows, but didn't want to tick off the power users. (There was a big scary warning not to add external links.

If it's appropriate, here's one:


 * Steve Krug: author and usability expert - Helpful content, slideshows, and discussion of usability especially from his first book Don't Make Me Think.

Globalfix (talk) 18:53, 18 April 2010 (UTC)
 * The external links need cleanup, but I don't think it's too big a problem given some might be helpful in assisting editors in finding references to expand the article. --Ronz (talk) 21:08, 18 April 2010 (UTC)

Hello everyone, thought I would throw in here as well. There is a great paper by Peter Pirolli and Stuart K. Card on information foraging here: http://act-r.psy.cmu.edu/papers/280/uir-1999-05-pirolli.pdf. This might be a great addition to the page and also a good thing to link off to. Information foraging was coined following extensive Web usability studies down at PARC. Might be good to have a section about information foraging and a link off to this paper. --Michael Latulippe (talk) 17:00, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

Suggest that the external link "A list of web usability methods" (http://jthom.best.vwh.net/usability/) which is now broken be replaced with http://usability.jameshom.com/index.htm (The Usability Methods Toolbox) which contains the same information (and more than before). Suggest a rename of the link though as the "list" is now the Table of Contents of that web book. Either that or just remove the link entirely. Will adjust in couple of days if there's no objections --Joshdavenport (talk) 15:40, 8 September 2010 (UTC)

Clarification (in other words, Irony)
Excuse me if my form is incorrect. I'm not a Wikipedia power user.

Point 4) in the General section breaks rule 3). Does 'right' mean 'as opposed to left' or does it mean 'correct'?

3) To remove any ambiguity [snip]

4) Put the most important thing in the right place on a web page or a web application. Atucovic (talk) 21:04, 22 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Hum, I think it means the 'correct' place. Not sure how this breaks rule 3, you can put something on the correct place but still make it ambiguous, so you needd to apply both rules. --Enric Naval (talk) 00:35, 23 January 2009 (UTC)

Reference clarification request
Lil112 (talk) 01:36, 16 December 2017 (UTC)

1. ″ DA SIE, Chris. "5 Components Of Usability". www.chrisDasie.com. Retrieved 13 December 2017.″is a personal webpage shows "doesn't exist"now. Please update with a more formal resource.

2. Please add references for "In conclusion, Web usability goal is to provide user experience satisfaction...." passage.

Lil112 (talk) 01:36, 16 December 2017 (UTC)

Suggestions for article structure
Lil112 (talk) 01:51, 16 December 2017 (UTC)

1. User testing is one kind of evaluation methods, not the vice versa. (see to Matera, Maristella; Rizzo, Francesca; Carughi, Giovanni Toffetti (2006). "Web Usability: Principles and Evaluation Methods". Web Engineering. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg: 143–180. doi:10.1007/3-540-28218-1_5 and wiki article Usability). Please update update the hierarchical relationship between them.

2. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines were drafted because of ADA compliance law. So these 2 parts can be integrated. ADA compliance law requires accessibility for disabilities and WCAG concreted those requirements. It's a set of standards. I think it belongs to web usability criteria.

3. Mobile usability and Usability for Multilingual Website can be integrated with Universal usability challenges. They are related to factors that influence universal usability, technology variety and user diversity correspondingly.

Lil112 (talk) 01:51, 16 December 2017 (UTC)

Suggestions for See Also
An other suggestion for deeper understanding of Web Usability is: Designing Web Usability by Jacob Nielsen. --MB 14:35, 5 October 2017 (UTC)

Don't Make Me Think by Steve Krug

 * Don't Make Me Think by Steve Krug is probably the most accessible and helpful intro to usability.

Ronz removed my link to this. This is an *internal link* to a _stub article_ that needs expansion. How will the stub get expanded if it's not linked to another relevant theme / topic? Few people will find it. Further, the fact that this article omits Krug's work makes it far less useful, since Krug is one of the few authors that writes a "usability" guide that's actually usable. (ironically)

To the power guys who have a lot more sway than me in this Wikiworld: Please include some links to Krug's content here, as he's the only author that writes stuff that anyone can read and absorb quickly. I've struggled with hiring multiple web design firms that have little idea of their lack of usability. Given that we'll all spend about 30 years online during our lifetimes, better usability is truly a service to humanity.

(PS - on a personal note, I'm working on a usability project today, and I was hoping I'd find some really useful new stuff on the wikipedia page, but didn't find this super helpful. Can we pls improve the usefulness of this page for those seeking to learn and apply usability principles?? Many thanks -)

Thanks Globalfix (talk) 19:10, 18 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Agreed, "Don't Make Me Think" is a renown reference in Web usability. It's worth adding it to this article, even if it's still a stub. Dodoïste (talk) 15:51, 8 September 2010 (UTC)

Suggestion for Content
At the end of the Usbility defnintion, a note about usability study in a specific context is good to add. Context provides/supports a web usability specific to the conditions provided by the users such as: language, current situation or activity and even, age group.--MB 18:01, 9 October 2017 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mbayer2018 (talk • contribs) 18:01, 9 October 2017 (UTC)

Other definition of the Usabiltiy study is to find the clues to opportunities to improve user experience. -- MB 18:04, 9 October 2017 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mbayer2018 (talk • contribs) 18:01, 9 October 2017 (UTC) The the article definition, first paragraph, it would be good to add at the end that the main goal of a website usability is to for the users to reach their goal and experience a feeling of satisfaction and achievement such as finding the desired information or acquiring a product. --MB 13:48, 5 October 2017 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mbayer2018 (talk • contribs) 13:48, 5 October 2017 (UTC)

Also on the first paragraph, ADA compliances should also be mentioned as an important component of Usability. The web had evolved, devices we use to browse the web have increased and markup code has changed to accommodate web evolution. ADA comliance is a big part to provide a good web usability.--MB 14:01, 5 October 2017 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mbayer2018 (talk • contribs) 14:01, 5 October 2017 (UTC)

On the second paragraph of the definition, other keywords that describe the amin components of Usability should be added: small learnig curve, findabiltiy, efficiency, satisfaction, automation. These new components of usabiltiy are due to the evolution of the web and the devices. Example: automation: autofill, databases, personal account; efficiency: voice command (siri, alexa,...etc); findabiltiy: the number of website has reached 4 billions, with good usability, users have more success to find what they are looking for in a timely manner. --MB 14:11, 5 October 2017 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mbayer2018 (talk • contribs) 14:11, 5 October 2017 (UTC)

A new section to add to this article is : " Usabiltiy for multilingual websites". Are the multilingual websites offer the same experience to the user,regardless ofthe website being in english, french, arabic or chinese? Does the sites render the same ways in all langauges and all devices? does the UI changed becuase the language used? are the components of usability all the same in all languages? --MB 14:59, 5 October 2017 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mbayer2018 (talk • contribs)

In the section: Methodology; add a section for "usabiltiy testing for international users". A link from Usability for multilingual websites can link to this section. --MB 15:23, 5 October 2017 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mbayer2018 (talk • contribs)

The article mentions that part web usability is ensuring that "content works on various devices and browsers", this is called responsive web design. I think it is possible to include a section on responsive web design, or at least add the link in the See Also section. — Preceding unsigned comment added by CEGarcia (talk • contribs) 00:36, 23 October 2014 (UTC)


 * A section that specifically discuss "Mobile Usability" on top of responsive design should be added. web site content has to adjust to mobile display which include screen size and fuctionality restrictions (touch screen vs mouse or keyboard, voice command). MB 14:42, 5 October 2017 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mbayer2018 (talk • contribs)

Suggest 2 references for 1-2 paragraphsLil112 (talk) 01:03, 12 October 2017 (UTC)
 * For the definition part, Matera, Rizzo &Carughi's Article in Web Engineering suggests Web usability can be defined as the ability of Web applications to support target web tasks with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction.
 * For the influential factor parts, Ben Shneiderman's Article in Communications of the ACM points out usability should take technology variety, user diversity and gaps in user knowledge in to account.
 * Lil112 (talk) 01:03, 12 October 2017 (UTC)

Lil112 (talk) 15:00, 10 November 2017 (UTC)

1. Add Ergonomic Requirement Approach part in definition

(https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/3-540-28218-1_5)

According to ISO 9241(Ergonomic Requirements for Office Work with Visual Display Terminals, usability is “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”. Therefore, web usability can be defined as the ability of Web applications to support web-related tasks with effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction. To be specific, effectiveness represents accuracy and completeness when users achieve a specified goal. Efficiency is resource cost in relation to the accuracy and completeness. Satisfaction is the comfort and acceptability of use.

2. Add new section of Web Usability Criteria

-	Nielson’s 10 heuristics

Jakob Nielsen's heuristics are widely adopted in Interface Design. (wiki: Heuristic evaluation)

-	Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCGA 2.0)

W3C released its guidelines on Web accessibility issues.( https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG20/glance/)

3. Add new section of Evaluation Methods

-	Usability Testing (wiki Usability testing)

-	Heuristic Evaluation(wiki Heuristic evaluation)

-	Cognitive Walkthrough (wiki Cognitive Walkthrough)

-	Web Analytics (wiki Web analytics)

4. Add new section of Universal Usability

(https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=332843)

To attain universal usability for Web-based services, designers and developers should take technology variety, user diversity and gaps in user knowledge into consideration.

Technology variety arises from a broad range of hardware, software, and network access. People are using different hardware to access web services User diversity factors are including culture, personality, age, gender, race, ethnicity, disabilities, literacy, income, skills and knowledge. Gaps in user knowledge means strategically building the ladder to get users from what they know to what they need to know.

Lil112 (talk) 15:00, 10 November 2017 (UTC)

MB 18:49, 14 December 2017 (UTC)MB I added the following sections to the Website Usability Articel:

Web Usability definition and components
In this section I defined web usability according to current technologies and users.

ADA Comliance and Web Usability
In this section I emphasise the importance of web accessibility for people with disabilities because of the rise of online services and the wide spread of devices.

Mobile Usability
In this section I state the importance of mobile usability across different screen sizes as the mobile device becomes accessible and diverse.

Usability for Multilingual Websites
In this section I state the importance of website usability for divers users speaking different languages as online services reach beyond their geographic location.

Usability Testing
In this section I re-define usability testing because of the evolution of websites and wide spread of online services. I also added the last point: International Usability Testing as it is specific to websites with international users.

Conclusion
I added this section to summarise the key points and goals of Usability Testing. MB 18:49, 14 December 2017 (UTC)MB — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mbayer2018 (talk • contribs) 18:49, 14 December 2017 (UTC)

Needs major copyediting, reorganization, removal of redundancy and due weight
This is an average article on the English Wikipedia. It has some useful information, but there is/are:
 * Redundancy in text in many sections; should follow WP:REDUNDANCY and WP:DUE
 * Excessive use of "we" pronouns; should follow WP:NPOV
 * Direct addressing of readers, lack of neutral language; should follow MOS:NOTE
 * Inappropriate external links; should follow WP:EL
 * Bare URLs in citations; should follow MOS:CITE AND WP:RS

Pinging article creator and active editors: ,, , , ,  &mdash;  CrafterNova  [ TALK ] [ CONT ] 12:20, 13 May 2023 (UTC)
 * I'd add WP:SOAP/POV problems due to the heavy reliance on poor, non-independent references. --Hipal (talk) 15:51, 13 May 2023 (UTC)
 * This might be included in what you said above, but I'd also add that all uses of "should" should be attributed to someone, not in wikivoice. Wracking  💬 07:52, 14 May 2023 (UTC)

Accessibility refs removed
Hi all, in my trimming of this article, I removed statements attributed to these sources. The sources (besides the blog) are generally not related to "ADA" (which refers to a US law) but accessibility in general. The sources may still be useful in a rewrite.

Removed text: ADA compliance plays a major part in making web usability a seamless and satisfying experience. See Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Wracking 💬 07:50, 14 May 2023 (UTC)


 * Thank you for noticing this. You are right. I was searching for sources about ADA compliance, and hastily added any that I found.
 * The sources can be used again for adding reliable information, so I have mentioned them on this talk page using a refidea template. &mdash; CrafterNova  [ TALK ] [ CONT ] 16:30, 15 May 2023 (UTC)