NEOUPA Remote Usability Studies

Remote Usability Studies Get Great Results While Saving Time and Money Jason Holmes Aaron Rosenberg American Greetings Interactive

So…you need to do a user study… by tomorrow
Your boss comes by and says, “We need to test this on users. I need answers by the end of the week.”
Options
Call a marketing/UX consulting firm
Do it yourself at your desk
Do it yourself…remotely!

What is Remote Usability?
Research where the facilitator and participant are separated by time and/or space
Can involve unmoderated or moderated methods
Usually mediated by technology

Unmoderated tools
Optimal Workshop
OptimalSort
Treejack
Chalkmark
Loop11.com
Task-based testing

OptimalSort - Open

OptimalSort - Closed

Treejack – Optimal Workshop

Where would you find a baby book? Where would you find a baby book? Treejack – Results

Chalkmark – Optimal Workshop

Loop11.com

What do you get with remote testing?
More contextual, more ethnographic
Stakeholder participation
Remote logging
Instant messaging between
Facilitator <> Observers
Facilitator <> Participant
Import into Morae
Compile in-person Morae studies with UserVue studies

What do you give up with remote testing?
Non-verbal cues
Facial expressions
Head movement
Moments of confusion and hesitation are more difficult to detect
Less control
More distractions

Are the results as good?
According to Bolt|Peters, yes!
In a comparative study between in-person and remote methods, they found remote was better
Remote yielded more key findings
Shorter sessions
1 day vs. 12 days
$17,000 vs. $26,000

Getting Remote Participants
Tap existing customer base
Limited to current customers…not prospective customers
Ethnio (Bolt|Peters)
Quick screener
DHTML popup using JavaScript
Geographically neutral
By combining Ethnio and Uservue, you can live recruit and record what real users actually do!

UserVue
Setting up study
Running study
Install plug-in
Initiate call
Initiate screen connection
Logging
Analyzing results with Morae

Analyzing Results

Remote Moderating Tips
Explain that you can see everything on their screen
“ If you have anything of a personal or sensitive nature on your screen, please close it now.”
Use their name often
Explain the technology
“ There’s a slight delay between when you do something and when I see it, so I might ask you what you just did.”
Blame technology
“ You just cut out.”

Not everything is great
Participant commitment not as great
Prepare for “no-shows”
Unforeseen logistical problems
Give you their cell number but don’t want to use it for an hour
Computer is in basement, but their phone signal won’t reach
“Can you hold on a second…”

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NEOUPA Remote Usability Studies

by jaholmes2 on Oct 22, 2009

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NEOUPA Remote Usability Studies — Presentation Transcript