Usability Testing Materials

Usability Testing

Wednesday, February 29, 12

Usability is mostly common sense.


not


But you still need a plan.


Test Materials


• Guidelines for observers

• Orientation script

• Background questionnaire

• Data collection instruments

• Agreement & consent forms

• Pre-test questionnaire

• Task scenarios

• Post-test questionnaire

• Debrieﬁng guide

Guidelines for observers


what to do
not to do


• Introduce yourself

• Find out what they need? Anxious?

• Let them know what they’re in for.

• protocols

• testing methods

• testing reasons


Orientation Script


Guidelines (p. 156-57)


Guidelines (p. 156-57)
• Tone
• Length
• Verbatim


Demonstrate neutrality.


you are


but you do need to care
about them.


The act of observing people
can’t help but affect the results.


Background
Questionnaire


classiﬁers from
screening process


why?


data collection


What data will address
the problem statement/
research question?


How will you
collect the data?


Who is going to do what?


Performance Data


“objective measures of
behavior, such as error rates,
time, and counts of observed
behavior elements”


Preference data


“more subjective data that
measures the participant’s
feelings or opinions of the
product.”


Performance Data:


• number of errors

• % of tasks completed successfully

• # and type of hints/prompts needed

• # of omitted steps or procedures

• Scores on comprehension tests


Time to...
• complete a task

• recover from an error

• achieve a criterion
level of competence

• spent reading v
working


Preference Data


• Preference between versions

• Suggestions for improvement

• Number of negative references to product

• Rationales for performance

• Ratings or rankings of product


(see pgs 166 - 167)


What type of information
will you collect?


Listen to the client.
Pay attention to your site.


First things ﬁrst:


Where are you going
to test?


These documents are used
in varying contexts.


Ideally, testing is done in the context
the document will be used in.


How are you going to
record data?


Morae


Manual data collection


Observe and take notes on every action.


Develop a code.


• You might write “T” when the subject stops
reading and does not perform any action to
signify that they were thinking

• You might write “F” when the subject ﬂips
back and forth to locate something

• You might write “W” when the subject
wanders around.


To use this method, start a table
with the elapsed time in one
column and the action which occurs
in the other.


By carefully noting what the subject does at
each stage, you can locate the difﬁcult parts.


Nondisclosure Forms
Recording Permission
Informed Consent Form


Pre-test Questionnaires
Interviews


Task Scenarios


• Results they will strive to achieve

• Motives for performing the work

• Actual data/names rather than generalities

• State of system when task is initiated

• Any other materials they need to complete
the task


be realistic
provide motivation


sequence tasks


Determine levels of
interaction


The difference between strictly
observing a person navigating a
document or using a product
and participating in what they
do is signiﬁcant.


But it is also a matter of degree–
decide in advance just how much
you will interact with your test
subjects.


silent observation


talk-aloud protocols


Post-test Questions


• Major items related to speciﬁc research
questions

• Items related to trends/patterns among
participants

• Items related to things you can’t directly
observe


Question Forms/Formats


Likert Scale


Semantic Differentials


Debrieﬁng Guide


Usability Testing Materials

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