Usability Now!

This 8-hour course is designed to show how to increase the effectiveness of the software design process and maximize the usefulness of software applications by successfully addressing target user goals and needs.

Course Audience and Objectives

Audience

Usability Now! is for organizations that want to understand the concept of usability and its role in the design of successful products, services, and websites.

It is specifically for people in software design and development, research, quality assurance, and marketing roles that drive the company interface with the customer or end user. This course focuses on desktop application design, although many of the principles it presents can be applied to mainframe or Web application design.

Objectives

At the end of this course, participants will understand the fundamentals of user-centered design (UCD), basic and specific design concepts, and how to incorporate UCD into each phase of the software design and development process. Participants will receive practical usability training in the form of group exercises and discussion.

Schedule Overview

Time	Activity	Topics
8:00–9:00	Introduction	Defining usability Corporate needs for usability Basics of usability History of usability in software design
9:00–9:30	Group Exercise	Participants break into groups representing “real life” business partners, IT, and user roles to review designated application screens and predict usability improvements.
9:30–12:30	Group Discussion	Examine feedback from each group Review metrics for the application (number of call center calls, number of emails, number of lost customers, etc.) Discuss the application from a usability standpoint and examine how the group responses relate to overall company success
12:30–1:30	Lunch
1:30–3:00	Tips and Tricks: Usability in Action and Inaction	Conceptual model Progressive disclosure Role of context Visual design Content design Affordance
3:00–4:00	Incorporating UCD in the Software Design and Development Process	Participants study the fundamentals of UCD, from research to user testing, and learn how to incorporate UCD in the software design and development process.
4:00–5:00	Wrap-Up	ROI of usability When to rely on staff and when to hire outside experts Follow-up questions