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NELAUX, Pasadena
June 20, 2014
Is Usability Taking
a Nose Dive?
Awareness
Sorry
 I know what my slides should be like
 I’m just not that guy
 The big, evocative photos guy
 And I’m not even sorry I’m not that guy
 Bullets it is
 and a template straight out of Office 2004
 But you can read it from the back of the room,
right?
© 2001 Steve Krug
The premise
 On the one hand, it seems like usability is in better
shape than ever
© 2001 Steve Krug
After years of crying in the desert…
 …suddenly we’re pop- ♫ u- ♫ lar ♫
 Or at least it seems like we are
 Thank Steve for it
 Or maybe Steve and Jony
 He/they convinced people that usability was a
crucial part of his/their enormously successful
secret sauce
 They did the big case study for “you can make
money by making things that people can use”
© 2001 Steve Krug
Mostly good news
 Granted, usability is now a wholly owned subsidiary
of its newfound big cousin, User Experience Design
(UXD)
 But there’s more awareness than ever of the whole
idea of creating things people can actually use
© 2001 Steve Krug
But
 Some people heard it as “you can make money by
making things that people really enjoy using”
 Some heard it as “…by creating delightful
experiences”
 So for some people usability now equals “delightful
experience”
 …which can easily translate to “beautiful, novel,
and cool stuff”
© 2001 Steve Krug
Usabilitycirca 2001
 Useful: Does it do something people need done?
 Learnable: Can people figure out how to use it?
 Memorable: Do they have to relearn it each time
they use it?
 Efficient: Does it do it with a reasonable amount of
time and effort?
 and maybe even:
 Effective: Does it get the job done?
© 2001 Steve Krug
New, improved usability
 Now includes:
 Desirable: Do people want it?
 Delightful: Is using it enjoyable, or even fun?
© 2001 Steve Krug
My [relatively unchanged] definition
 Something is usable if
 A person of average (or even below average) ability and
experience
 can figure out how to use the thing
 to accomplish some desired goal
 without it being more trouble than it’s worth.
© 2001 Steve Krug
Travel with me back in time
 Well, OK, only about a year
 I was working on the new edition of Don’t Make Me
Think
 Felt the need to “get out of the building”
 Made an effort to go beyond my usual routines
 Looked at a lot of sites
 Suddenly had that “I think we’re not in Kansas
anymore” feeling
© 2001 Steve Krug
Some things looked the same as ever
 Or better than ever
 A feeling of maturity
© 2001 Steve Krug
© 2001 Steve Krug
© 2001 Steve Krug
On the other hand
 Many looked like mobile sites that had been fed
growth hormones
 Had the feeling you could read them from outer
space
© 2001 Steve Krug
© 2001 Steve Krug
© 2001 Steve Krug
© 2001 Steve Krug
Mobile to desktop creep?
 Everything centered
 Lots of uninformative graphics
 Very little info on the screen at one time
 Loss of visual hierarchy
 Everything on one page
© 2001 Steve Krug
Flat design
 Don’t get me started
© 2001 Steve Krug
© 2001 Steve Krug
Show of hands
 Flat design:
 A passing trend
 A great leap forward
 The devil’s handiwork
© 2001 Steve Krug
Granted, this was never a good idea
© 2001 Steve Krug
So what bothers me about Flat?
 Duck-and-cover threat of skeuomorphism
 There were really only a few egregious examples
 And they never really hurt anybody
 I thought we’d won the cool vs. usable battle
 People finally understood that it can be as cool as
you want, as long as it works, too
 I hadn’t had that argument in years
© 2001 Steve Krug
Don’t get me wrong
 I am not a luddite
 In fact, I’m a hopeless early adopter
 I’m ecstatic that my Surface Pro 3 arrived today in
Boston
 Almost all of my PCs for the last 15 years have been
tablets
 Only problem was the 45-minute battery life, two inch
thickness, and 4 pound heft
© 2001 Steve Krug
Don’t get me wrong
 I bought iPad the day it came out
 I try so many apps that I can’t do “Update All”
© 2001 Steve Krug
We’re making more ambitious things
 Technology is allowing things to do a lot more
 Accelerometers the size of a grain of sand that cost
pennies to make
 GPS satellites
 Gorilla Glass®™
 The Cloud
© 2001 Steve Krug
It’s moving awfully fast
 Developing UX for a new technology takes time
 A shift as rapid as desktop > mobile requires some
catching up
 New devices may come faster than new usable
interface ideas
© 2001 Steve Krug
© 2001 Steve Krug
Source: LukeW (google: “First Person User Interfaces”)
I’m worried about the little guy
 Greater demands
 Things have to be cooler
 Things have to be more functional
 Things have to be multi-platform
 Vague emerging standards
 Too much to learn
© 2001 Steve Krug
Developers are the new MDs
 There’s so much more to know
 It’s hard to keep up
 Show of hands: Do you ever feel like there’s just too
much to know?
© 2001 Steve Krug
Developers are the new MDs
 “Faking cultural literacy”
 Karl Taro Greenfeld, New York Times, 5/24/14
 “It’s never been so easy to pretend to know so much
without actually knowing anything.”
 “What we all feel now is the constant pressure to know
enough, at all times, lest we be revealed as culturally
illiterate.”
 “What matters to us…is not necessarily having actually
consumed this content firsthand but simply knowing
that it exists — and having a position on it, being able to
engage in the chatter about it.”
© 2001 Steve Krug
© 2001 Steve Krug
© 2001 Steve Krug
Replacing “progress” with “innovation”
skirts the question of whether a novelty is
an improvement: the world may not be
getting better and better but our devices are
getting newer and newer.
From “The Disruption Machine: What the gospel of innovation gets wrong”
by Jill Lepore, The New Yorker, 6/23/14
© 2001 Steve Krug
Photo © Jeff Jeffords www.divegallery.com
© 2001 Steve Krug
Thanks for all the fish
 Send any questions, feedback, gripes to
 skrug@sensible.com
© 2014 Steve Krug

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Is Usability Taking a Nose Dive?

  • 1. NELAUX, Pasadena June 20, 2014 Is Usability Taking a Nose Dive?
  • 3. Sorry  I know what my slides should be like  I’m just not that guy  The big, evocative photos guy  And I’m not even sorry I’m not that guy  Bullets it is  and a template straight out of Office 2004  But you can read it from the back of the room, right? © 2001 Steve Krug
  • 4. The premise  On the one hand, it seems like usability is in better shape than ever © 2001 Steve Krug
  • 5. After years of crying in the desert…  …suddenly we’re pop- ♫ u- ♫ lar ♫  Or at least it seems like we are  Thank Steve for it  Or maybe Steve and Jony  He/they convinced people that usability was a crucial part of his/their enormously successful secret sauce  They did the big case study for “you can make money by making things that people can use” © 2001 Steve Krug
  • 6. Mostly good news  Granted, usability is now a wholly owned subsidiary of its newfound big cousin, User Experience Design (UXD)  But there’s more awareness than ever of the whole idea of creating things people can actually use © 2001 Steve Krug
  • 7. But  Some people heard it as “you can make money by making things that people really enjoy using”  Some heard it as “…by creating delightful experiences”  So for some people usability now equals “delightful experience”  …which can easily translate to “beautiful, novel, and cool stuff” © 2001 Steve Krug
  • 8. Usabilitycirca 2001  Useful: Does it do something people need done?  Learnable: Can people figure out how to use it?  Memorable: Do they have to relearn it each time they use it?  Efficient: Does it do it with a reasonable amount of time and effort?  and maybe even:  Effective: Does it get the job done? © 2001 Steve Krug
  • 9. New, improved usability  Now includes:  Desirable: Do people want it?  Delightful: Is using it enjoyable, or even fun? © 2001 Steve Krug
  • 10. My [relatively unchanged] definition  Something is usable if  A person of average (or even below average) ability and experience  can figure out how to use the thing  to accomplish some desired goal  without it being more trouble than it’s worth. © 2001 Steve Krug
  • 11. Travel with me back in time  Well, OK, only about a year  I was working on the new edition of Don’t Make Me Think  Felt the need to “get out of the building”  Made an effort to go beyond my usual routines  Looked at a lot of sites  Suddenly had that “I think we’re not in Kansas anymore” feeling © 2001 Steve Krug
  • 12. Some things looked the same as ever  Or better than ever  A feeling of maturity © 2001 Steve Krug
  • 15. On the other hand  Many looked like mobile sites that had been fed growth hormones  Had the feeling you could read them from outer space © 2001 Steve Krug
  • 19. Mobile to desktop creep?  Everything centered  Lots of uninformative graphics  Very little info on the screen at one time  Loss of visual hierarchy  Everything on one page © 2001 Steve Krug
  • 20. Flat design  Don’t get me started © 2001 Steve Krug
  • 22. Show of hands  Flat design:  A passing trend  A great leap forward  The devil’s handiwork © 2001 Steve Krug
  • 23. Granted, this was never a good idea © 2001 Steve Krug
  • 24. So what bothers me about Flat?  Duck-and-cover threat of skeuomorphism  There were really only a few egregious examples  And they never really hurt anybody  I thought we’d won the cool vs. usable battle  People finally understood that it can be as cool as you want, as long as it works, too  I hadn’t had that argument in years © 2001 Steve Krug
  • 25. Don’t get me wrong  I am not a luddite  In fact, I’m a hopeless early adopter  I’m ecstatic that my Surface Pro 3 arrived today in Boston  Almost all of my PCs for the last 15 years have been tablets  Only problem was the 45-minute battery life, two inch thickness, and 4 pound heft © 2001 Steve Krug
  • 26. Don’t get me wrong  I bought iPad the day it came out  I try so many apps that I can’t do “Update All” © 2001 Steve Krug
  • 27. We’re making more ambitious things  Technology is allowing things to do a lot more  Accelerometers the size of a grain of sand that cost pennies to make  GPS satellites  Gorilla Glass®™  The Cloud © 2001 Steve Krug
  • 28. It’s moving awfully fast  Developing UX for a new technology takes time  A shift as rapid as desktop > mobile requires some catching up  New devices may come faster than new usable interface ideas © 2001 Steve Krug
  • 29. © 2001 Steve Krug Source: LukeW (google: “First Person User Interfaces”)
  • 30. I’m worried about the little guy  Greater demands  Things have to be cooler  Things have to be more functional  Things have to be multi-platform  Vague emerging standards  Too much to learn © 2001 Steve Krug
  • 31. Developers are the new MDs  There’s so much more to know  It’s hard to keep up  Show of hands: Do you ever feel like there’s just too much to know? © 2001 Steve Krug
  • 32. Developers are the new MDs  “Faking cultural literacy”  Karl Taro Greenfeld, New York Times, 5/24/14  “It’s never been so easy to pretend to know so much without actually knowing anything.”  “What we all feel now is the constant pressure to know enough, at all times, lest we be revealed as culturally illiterate.”  “What matters to us…is not necessarily having actually consumed this content firsthand but simply knowing that it exists — and having a position on it, being able to engage in the chatter about it.” © 2001 Steve Krug
  • 34. © 2001 Steve Krug Replacing “progress” with “innovation” skirts the question of whether a novelty is an improvement: the world may not be getting better and better but our devices are getting newer and newer. From “The Disruption Machine: What the gospel of innovation gets wrong” by Jill Lepore, The New Yorker, 6/23/14
  • 35. © 2001 Steve Krug Photo © Jeff Jeffords www.divegallery.com
  • 36. © 2001 Steve Krug Thanks for all the fish  Send any questions, feedback, gripes to  skrug@sensible.com