In this week I will continue to discover the usability heuristics according to Norman Nielsen group. This time it will be about the next block of heuristics- action.
The next block also consists of three heuristics- feedom, flexibility and recognition over recall.
User control and freedom
Users often choose system functions by mistake and will need a clearly marked “emergency exit” to leave the unwanted state without having to go through an extended dialogue. Support undo and redo
This heuristics is sometimes consciously violated during checkout or product configuration process to make users choose more expensive product option and make it difficult to revert the choice.
One of the most annoying experience is buying plane tickets. The airline proposes a bunch of extra services and options to the plane tickets (hotels, insurances and car rentals). As a user I do not know how much stuff the airline will propose and how many more steps I have to skip (the users have to skip each proposal).
It is kind of frustrating because as a user who does not need to buy these extras, I want to bein control how many steps I have to skip before actually being able to get to my tickets.
Flexibility and efficiency of use
Accelerators — unseen by the novice user — may often speed up the interaction for the expert user such that the system can cater to both inexperienced and experienced users. Allow users to tailor frequent actions.
To achieve efficiency of use, there are three ways:
Set good defaults with options
One of not so good examples is Montreux Jazz festival. It keeps displaying the site in French, although my default browser language is German. Not that I do not understand French, I just want to be displayed in more understandable language for me.
Also on ticket provider ticketcorner.ch the default of ticket option is a printed ticket for additional 5 CHF instead of the free print@home option. If an unexperienced user oversees that checkbox, they will have additional costs added t the ticket price. Changing the delivery option for the ticket involves opening the accordeon (one of the “dark UX” design pattern I guess)
Give ambient information
When receiving a booking confirmation from airbnb, the system suggests also the activities which can be booked in your destination.
Proactivity
On easyjet.com the site suggest that you can fly from the other airport situated near the initial airport a user selected. If the flights are cheaper that can make sense. Also the website suggests the “3 week view” kind of price calendar for the 3 weeks around the initially selected date. This is a great feature if there is a flexibility in time.
Provide Recommendations
The recommendations can provide great help for the users. Skyscanner.com provides the list of most favorite destinations from your place of origin.
But too much recommendations can also annoy. As I mentioned in my previous article, the airbnb home page provides for my taste too much recommendations with infinite scrolling with the categories not always making sense and being relevant for me (never searched or booked anything in these places).
Recognition rather than recall
Minimize the user’s memory load by making objects, actions, and options visible. The user should not have to remember information from one part of the dialogue to another. Instructions for use of the system should be visible or easily retrievable whenever appropriate.
One of the ways to make users recall is to create a history of transactions or actions. The user can remember about the past actions better.
Another great way to facilitate recognition is to provide several attributes for an object with which the user can recognize it. For example, on airbnb, the apartment list can be shown on the map. By clicking on the apartment, a picture and details are shown. The user can recognize according to the location on the map and picture/description of the apartment.
Visual recognition works best in most cases. But the icons can be often misinterpreted and understood differently in different cultures. So it is better to choose the icons very wisely and to double user-test them in doubt.
