The document provides an overview of usability testing and techniques. It discusses what usability is, when to conduct testing, and how different techniques like expert reviews, user testing, eye tracking, card sorting and paper prototyping work. The author is a senior user experience consultant who provides these services to help evaluate designs and ensure they meet users' needs.

1. The what, when, why and how of usability
16th May 2012
Fiona Harwood
SimpleUsability Ltd
http://www.simpleusability.com
© Copyright 2012 SimpleUsability
Please ask for explicit permission before republishing any of this information.

2. Session
• About me
• What – Is usability?
• When - Process and techniques overview
• How - Techniques explained and how to adapt in-house
• Why - Common usability requirements and how to solve
• Usability examples and questions

3. About me
• Graduated as Product Designer
• Have worked in various
industries working with IT
projects
• Intranet manager for 5 years
• Trained in usability
• Working full time as Senior User
Experience Consultant for
SimpleUsability Ltd
fi_harwood

4. About SimpleUsability
• SimpleUsability is a behavioural research consultancy
• We combine a unique methodology with the latest
technology to provide invaluable insight and add value to
our clients’ businesses
• Established in 2001, twelve strong team
• Core experience lies in retail, travel & leisure and financial
services sectors

5. What is Usability?
• Usefulness
• Learnability
• Effectiveness
• Efficiency
• Memorability
• Errors
• Satisfaction

6. When to test

7. How – Overview of usability techniques
• Expert reviews
• User testing
• Eye tracking
• Card sorting
• Paper prototyping
• Field studies

8. How – Other methods
• Focus Groups
– Don’t always do what they say they do
– Doesn’t encourage the quiet user
– Listening to rather than observing users
• Web analytics
– Don’t know why
• Email feedback / surveys / panels
– Super user, committed to the cause and not the average user

9. How – Expert Reviews
Pros:
• Catches many usability problems
before testing takes place
• Cost effective
• Actionable report for project team
Problems:
• Needs to be followed up by user
testing
Why?
• How do we compare?
• What’s working, what’s not?

10. How – User Testing
Pros:
• Testing on real users
• Observe behaviour
Problems:
• Software investment
• Requires trained moderators
Why? Screen capture software
http://www.techsmith.com/morae.html
• How easy is the user journey?
• What are the main barriers?
• How is a particular part working?

11. How – Usability methodology
• Concurrent Think Aloud
o Encourage the user to say what
they are thinking
o Use unfinished questions, you
were expecting
o Gets feedback there and then
• Retrospective Think Aloud
o Play back video or repeat a path
how
to the user and ask them what why
what
they were thinking at the time
task end wrap
o Allows user to naturally
complete the task

12. How – Eye Tracking
Pros:
• Totally natural
• Relaxed, detailed feedback
• Proven effectiveness
• Evidence based results
Problems:
• Requires expert moderation
• Investment
Why?
• How do users interact naturally?
• What are users missing?

13. About Eye Tracking
• Lots of scary ways to do it.

14. About Eye Tracking
Eye Tracking Monitor
• The non-invasive way
• More accurate
• Works with glasses /
contact lenses
Live View of the
Eye Tracking

15. How – Card Sorting
Pros:
• Get real users to design the IA
• Solve categorisation problems
Problems:
• Needs large number of participants
• Needs analysis
Why?
• How should I structure the site?
• What should I call this label?
Donna Spencer
http://www.rosenfeldmedia.com/books/cardsorting/

16. How – Paper Prototyping
Pros:
• Quick
• Cheap
Problems:
• Needs to be followed up by more
testing of the actual interface
Why?
• How can I quickly check if a
workflow makes sense to users?
Caroline Snyder
http://www.paperprototyping.com/about.html

17. How – Field Studies
Pros:
• User is relaxed in their own environment
• Can be done in the office environment
• Moderator gets to observe the system
used in situation
Problems:
• Investment in time to go out of the office
• Testing will not be controlled
Why?
• What external effects are there on the user
journey?

18. How – Moderation
• Be neutral
• Don’t blame the user or defend the design
• Acknowledge
• Let the user get on with the task but encourage them if necessary
• Listen and react
• Know when to intervene
• Don’t let a user suffer but a user struggling to complete a task can give
you the evidence that you need
• Users who want to talk (and not want to talk)
• Watch your language (and your body language)
• Open ended questions

19. How – Moderation
• The alternative guessing game
– One person is the moderator
– One person is the user
• Rules
– Only questions that will result in an answer of more than 3 words
– Can’t ask a question that will result in the answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’
– Try and ask as few questions in order to guess the object

20. How – Moderation – How to ask why
• Open ended questions
• What worked?
• Can
• Would
• What
• What didn’t work?
• Is
• Did

21. Questions
Thank you