Is poor web site usability holding your business back?

Improving the usability of your web site or CD-ROM can be done without any specialist knowledge or tools.

With the basic principles and practical techniques you will learn on this course, you will be able to improve the usability of your web site or CD-ROM.

In one day, you'll learn how to:

• identify common usability issues
• run a simple usability test
• measure and quantify usability problems
• work with a web site developer to implement improvements.

This is a practical course with plenty of exercises, aimed at people with no specialist technical knowledge.

Programme

• What is usability?
  • Definitions of usability
  • The five quality components of usability
• How is usability measured?
  • The System Usability Scale (SUS)
  • Common usability metrics
  • Exercise: Using SUS to quickly measure usability
• Rule-of-thumb (‘heuristic’) evaluations
  • Choosing appropriate heuristics
  • Uses and limitations of heuristics
  • Exercise: a simple heuristic evaluation
• Improving the usability of links and buttons
  • What users want from a link title
  • Examples of good and bad links
  • Exercise: Writing better link titles
• Content usability
  • Key principles for usable writing
  • Search engine optimisation
• Writing unbiased questions
  • Main types of question
  • Exercise: Writing questions
• Planning and running a usability test
  • Choosing what to test and when to test it
  • Creating a test plan
  • Recruiting test participants
  • Writing a test script
  • Observing and note taking
  • Exercise: Asking questions and observing results
• Usability test recording tools
  • Video equipment
  • Software
• Reporting your findings
  • Common industry formats for usability test reporting
  • Lightweight report formats
  • Creating actionable results
• Working with developers
  • Communicating your findings
  • Common issues

Who will benefit from this course?
Web site editors, managers and commissioners who have an interest in improving the overall level of customer satisfaction with their web site.

Your tutor
Gordon Plant runs User Analytics, a usability company based in Bath UK. His clients have included Arts Council England, Learning Skills Network, Environment Agency, Harcourt Education and many small and medium sized businesses. Gordon also lectures in usability at Bath Spa University.

We also offer Search Engine Optimisation, Writing and Editing for the Web 1, Writing and Editing for the Web 2 and Web 2.0: Opportunities and Threats.

Note that most of our open courses can also be run as in company events.

Send details of this course to a colleague.

Dates: 20 November 2008

Price: £349+VAT (a number of discounts are available).

Venue: The Publishing Training Centre in Wandsworth, London (see a map and a list of local hotels).

Make a provisional booking on Practical Usability