STAA Conference, Washington DC, January 2002
The user and usability
- Who is your visitor?
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- Adults respond differently from kids
- How long will he or she stay on your site?
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- Ease of loading is crucial here: not more than 10 seconds (on a modem!)
- Initial impression should be cool and classy, not cluttered
- Can someone who is not a theatre person find their way around?
- Can a web user not especially literate find their way around?
- Will the site work on older machines, and on all makes of computers?
- Test the site with someone not in theatre, and not a geek
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- Set a simple task, or ask them simply to explore
- Ask then to say what they see and why they do what they do
- Don't comment at all (it breaks the spell)
- Keep careful notes of their backtrackings and "mistakes"
Red check marks highlight points that will be of interest to established sites as well as new ones.
