On designing the social user experience

There are two different types of usability test and each has different aims. […] I’m going to call the first kind of test ‘formative testing’ since its purpose is to shape or mould the user interface; and the second kind of test ‘summative’ testing since its aim is to summarise. […] The ‘magic number 5’ question has been discussed to death with formative tests. […] But 5 is clearly insufficient for a summative test. […] Jakob Nielsen recommends 20 for these types of test; when testing everyday products for usability, ISO 20282 recommends a sample size of 50.

— 2 kinds of usability test

Of Google’s 20 [usability] labs worldwide…

— How Google fine tunes its search engine

The harder it is to learn your product, the more loyal your customers will be. Could that really be true?

Sure, it meshes perfectly with behavioral economics, which generally concludes that people behave irrationally in the face of sunk costs. …

But where Nir’s idea doesn’t fit, at all, is with the existing paradigm of user experience. Software is supposed to rely on existing conventions and human nature to require as little learning as possible. …

By making your product’s sophistication match your user’s as they move along the learning curve, you can win newcomers and keep old-timers from churning, too. …

1. Keep the introductory product simple. Follow standard usability conventions for beginning or sporadic users. Keep it simple and intuitive. But…
2. Provide a return on investment for power users. Advanced features don’t have to be front and center to appeal to power users — as long as they know they exist, they’ll seek them out.

— UX: Can Usability Be Sticky Too?

The belief that products should always be as easy to use as possible is a sacred cow of the tech world … In fact, putting users to work is critical in creating products people love.

— Make Your Users Do the Work

A glimpse at one of Google’s usability labs (begins 2:50)

Google’s Future: Glasses, Search, and Maps

Traditional methods of usability lab testing won’t cut it anymore–we need to learn more about our users, their relationships, and even relinquish design control to them.

 […]

Real Users Don’t Do Tasks:
Rethinking User Research for the Social Web 

Usability testing isn’t telling us what we need to know about the social web

• Tasks aren’t what you think
• Satisfaction is correlated with control, engagement; not on task completion

Interaction 12 Sketchnotes: Day 3
(Presentation by @danachis, Sketchnotes by @kryshiggins)

Usability removes friction from an experience. Motivation increases the user’s desire to go through the experience.

Building Compelling Experiences