Design and Usability

Technical Communication, DAHMEN

Usability means…

“people who use the product (TCP) can do so quickly and easily to accomplish their own task.” (Dumas and Redsh, 1994, p.4)

Usability and Planning

Audience analysis Task analysis Developed information plan Research

Usability and Writing

Test early versions Revise to incorporate feedback Consider ‘layered’ documentation

Usability Post-Production

Provide means of feedback Plan for next revision Use reusable texts/chunks

Heuristics for Usable Documentation¹1. Match between documentation and the real

world

2. Match between documentation and the product

3. Purposeful documentation

4. Support for different users

5. Effective information design

Purho, Vesa. (2000) “Usability Inspections for Documentation.” Usability SIG. STC. 1998-2002. 9 Sept. 2003. <http://www.stc.org/usability/newsletter/0004-docsheuristics.html>

Heuristics, continued…

6. Support for various methods for searching Information

7. Task orientation

8. Troubleshooting

9. Consistency and standards

10. Help on using documentation

Usability and Readability Considerations¹ Maximize speed of access to key information. Present accurate and complete information. Present specific information about specific topics. Make the most effective use of the delivery method,

for example online help. Make the documentation the resource of choice for

regular access, rather than, for example, asking colleagues how to perform actions.

¹ Costello, Pat. (2001) “Usability and Readability Considerations for Technical Documentation.”The Gnome Project. 19 Sept. 2003 <http://developer.gnome.org/documents/usability/index.html>

Non-Objectives

You also need to make sure that you do not inadvertently achieve non-objectives. For example:

Do not try to resolve inadequate interface design or bugs in the documentation.

Do not distract from the task the user wants to perform.

Strategies for Usability

Reduce the burden on the short-term memory of the reader.

Build understanding and recognition of terms and structures into long-term memory.

Provide clear navigation techniques.

Additional Strategies

Eliminate Superfluous Information Create Consistent Structures Use Modular Information Blocks Use Consistent Language Use Consistent Typographic Conventions

Standard Readability Tests

Gunning Fog Index Flesch Readability Test Flesch-Kincaid Grade Index