Test Your Usability Knowledge

Providing accelerators such as keyboard shortcuts primarily focuses on improving the efficiency of a task or process. By offering shortcuts, users can perform actions more quickly and with fewer steps, ultimately saving time and effort. This enhances the overall productivity and effectiveness of the user, allowing them to accomplish tasks more efficiently.

Post-test questionnaires conducted after a usability test are particularly useful for measuring user satisfaction. This is because these questionnaires allow users to provide feedback on their overall experience with the product or system being tested. By asking questions related to user satisfaction, such as how easy the product was to use or how satisfied they were with the overall experience, researchers can gather valuable insights into the user's perception of the usability of the product. This information can then be used to identify areas for improvement and make necessary adjustments to enhance user satisfaction.

In a heuristic evaluation, a group of usability experts reviews a user interface according to a small set of general principles. This means that the experts use their expertise and knowledge to assess the interface based on established guidelines and principles of usability. They do not conduct formal experiments or administer questionnaires, but instead rely on their experience and knowledge to identify potential usability issues and provide recommendations for improvement.

Interactive sketches and paper mock are recognized kinds of prototypes because they both allow designers to quickly and easily create visual representations of their ideas. Interactive sketches are typically created using software tools or even hand-drawn on paper, and they allow designers to simulate user interactions and test out different design concepts. Paper mock, on the other hand, involves creating physical mock-ups using paper and other materials, which can be used to gather feedback and make improvements before moving on to more advanced prototypes. Both of these methods are commonly used in the design process to explore ideas and gather user feedback.

A persona in the context of goal-oriented interaction design is used to role-play through an interface design. This means that a persona is created to simulate how a specific type of user would interact with the design. The persona represents a particular type of user, not necessarily an average user. It helps designers understand the needs, goals, and behaviors of different user groups, allowing them to create a more tailored and effective design solution.

Learnability is an attribute of usability as it refers to how easily users can learn to navigate and use a system or product. Subjective satisfaction is also an attribute of usability as it measures the user's satisfaction and overall experience with the system or product. Usefulness can be considered an attribute of usability as well, as it relates to how well the system or product fulfills the user's needs and goals. However, generalisability is not an attribute of usability as it does not directly relate to the user's experience or interaction with the system or product.

In the usability engineering lifecycle, there are several ways to get to know the user. One way is to draw up a user profile, which involves creating a detailed description of the target user's characteristics, needs, and preferences. This helps in understanding the user's background and context. Another way is to assume the role of an apprentice learning from the master craftsman, which means observing and learning from experienced users or experts in the field. This helps in gaining insights and knowledge from those who are already familiar with the user's needs and requirements. Lastly, observing representative users in real-life situations can provide valuable information about their behavior, preferences, and challenges, aiding in designing user-friendly solutions.