Please note: the best practice guide has now been published. Entitled, 'Public Transport Information Web Sites: How To Get It Right: A Best Practice Guide', it is available to download at http://www.trg.soton.ac.uk/bpg. It is also available to purchase in hardcopy or CD ROM (click here to download Word97 order form). These pages are historic, produced during the project and remain for information only. They will not be updated again.

Internet PTI Best Practice - Preliminary Usability Heuristics

'Usability heuristics' are key principles, or measures, of usability, which contribute towards making a web site easy to use. They can help to indicate the 'utility' of a web site - that is, the extent to which the web site is useful, is usable and will be used. These heuristics can be used as a 'checklist' for site developers and for site accreditors, to help them to assess the usability of a web site.

The following preliminary usability principals have been drawn from research into the usability of both transport and non-transport web pages and from research into the generic principles of good public transport information design. They are general guidelines for effective PTI web site design. They will form a key element of the evaluation process - however, more detailed heuristics, relating specifically to individual PTI components, will be produced in the Best Practice Guide:

• Know your user's needs and capabilities and design for the user. Try to build a profile of your users and design for and in consultation with them. Find out what your users want to know - and provide this information in a way that corresponds with their cognitive, physical and technological capabilities.
• Information must be current and accurate. Currency of the information must be clearly stated: last updated and next updated tags can give users confidence in the information presented.
• Include email and non-email contact details and a visible link to where users can get help if they need to. This can help users to feel more confident when using the web site and may also make users more confident in the information presented.
• A site map, providing an overview of the site content, should be included. This can give confidence to users that the information they require is on the web site and can indicate where the information is located. Provide links to help and instructions on how to use the site, or aspects of the site which may not be intuitive to the user.
• The homepage should clearly state the scope of the site, detailing the site's information content and providing clear links to this content.
• Ease of navigation of a transport web site is of central importance. Users typically do not visit a PTI web site to surf: they visit to find out a specific piece of information, quickly and easily. Logical information grouping and naming of hotlinks is essential if users are to quickly link to the information that they require. Visible and consistent links should be present on each web page, including a link to the home page, contact information and a site map.
• A simple site structure can help to increase the learnability of the site. The effective use of metaphors, which create links between the system and the user's experience in the real world, can help to increase the intuitiveness of the site, increasing the usability and learnability of the site. A site that is learnable will be revisited.
• Do not assume knowledge: that is, do not assume that your users have any knowledge about the local area; the transport network; or the structure of your web site. For example, if a user is seeking timetable information, do not list timetables by route number, assuming that the user knows the route number of their bus route, without also providing information that matches route number with a route map.
• Related to the above, ensure that information grouping is logical: unordered lists are difficult to use.
• Avoid large blocks of text and highlight key words.
• Use colour with care, avoiding colour combinations which cause difficulties for people with colour blindness and ensure high levels of contrast between text and background colours. If using colours as information, ensure that there is sufficient contrast between the colours used.
• Maximise the accessibility of the web site. Provide text alternatives to accommodate users with less technical capabilities. Accessibility for users with disabilities can often be improved through simple alterations to coding behind the web page. This is a complex area and will be considered in full in the Best Practice Guide.
• Ensure consistency of colour, link names and information grouping.
• Be careful when using and consider the usability of graphics and new technologies: just because something can be done, this does not mean that it should be.

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Page created: Feb 8 2001