user testing talk by chris rourke of user vision
DESCRIPTION
Given at TechMeetup Edinburgh Aug 2011TRANSCRIPT
Usability Testing –a practical guide
August 2011
Chris Rourke
Managing Director
User Vision
@crourke @uservision
Please note- presentation contents copyright User Vision
What is Usability
Effectiveness – Can they reach their goals
find what they are looking for
do what they want to do?
Efficiency – How fast
number of errors
amount of effort
number of steps?
Satisfaction – Was it a good/bad experience?
Do it again?
Recommend to others?| 2
“The effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction with which specified users achieve specified goals in particular environments”
ISO 13407 – User Centred
Design Process for Interactive Systems
Another definition of Usability
Here is a development lifecycle definition, instead of a user outcome
based one:
“Usability is an approach to product development that incorporates
direct user feedback throughout the development cycle in order to
reduce costs and create products and tools that meet user needs.”
Usability Professional’s Association
Chris Rourke Managing Director User Vision| 3| 3
Requirements Design Build Test Implement
User / Task / Environment profiles
‘Competitor’ usability benchmark
Scenario creation, Personas, release criteria, usability metrics
Style guide
Usability inspection
Usability testing
User feedback, site modifications
Information architecture
Prototype design
Design IterationFeedback
Planning: Cost-benefit analysis, method selection, goal setting
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Usability Activities: Potential Usability Activities during Development
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Usability Activities: Usability Testing
User Testing
Involves picking important tasks and watching quietly as
people (usually struggle to) try to do them
Test plan design, task scenarios and accurate subject
recruitment are all critical
It is NOT:
Link, load or code testing
Online surveys or focus groups
Having friends view your pages on their computers
As effective when tested by the same people who
designed the site
“People will gladly waste a million dollars on their fancy design and not spend $4000 to see if it works”
1997, Jakob Nielsen
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Usability Activities: Usability Testing Essentials
Recruit the right users who fit your profile
Design the test to address typical tasks and those that
are most important for your success
Decide your metrics to track e.g. success, difficulty
Use the ‘think out loud’ method
Observe and listen to subjects, don’t help them, but
probe them where necessary to get them to talk
Pilot test if possible
You and your partner are interested in applying for a joint current account. You want to transfer the balance of your existing account and you want to pay both your salaries directly into this new account. *Apply for this account.
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Exercise: Creating a Task Scenario
Create a Task Scenario for your site, noting:
Scenarios should describe the task in a way that takes
some of the artificiality out of the test
A good scenario
Is written in the user’s words,
not the product’s
Is short and unambiguous
Gives participants enough
information to do task
Is directly linked to your most
important tasks and concerns
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Usability Testing: Measuring Usability
Usability Impact Service Delivery Impact Severity of Change Impact
High (H) Prevents the user from
completing their task
Prevents a service being
delivered, or causes
reputational damage, or
excludes major user groups
or invalidates campaign
messages
Changes needed in the
Business process, or database
structure, or application logic, or
organisation culture or similar
major change
Medium (M) Significantly delays or
confuses the user or causes
a significant error
Service or message is only
partially delivered, or take-
up is reduced
Web page structure, style,
graphical, or similar
presentation layer change
Low (L) Makes the user hesitate or
think or a minor error
Slightly degrades service
quality
Editorial content change
Positive (P) Elegant feature that helps
the user
Elegant feature that helps
users
No change required
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Usability Activities: When to Usability Test
Wireframe – Test the information architecture, labelling
and navigation hierarchies
Early Stage Prototype – Test critical user tasks, identify
where task flows are not aligned with user’s mental map
Late stage prototype – Test critical user tasks, evaluate
earlier fixes for improved performance and document new
issues
Launch – Usability testing in production environment
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Usability Activities: Time vs. Impact on Design
10
Early Development ProductionPrototype
Impact on
Design
Time
Usability’s biggest impact is early in the development process, due to the ability to make changes at minimal resource cost
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Usability Testing Early
Card sorting
Paper prototyping
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Usability Activities: Testing Facilities
We have sophisticated and flexible
testing suites, but simple labs are fine,
basic equipment includes:
Computer
2 chairs
Camcorder & tripod
Usability Lab
Focus Group Room
Interactive Lounge| 12
Usability testing - its not just for the lab anymore
“People will gladly waste a million dollars on their fancy design and not spend $4000 to see if it works”
Jakob Nielsen
Remote moderated testing
Lab-based testing Paper prototype
testing
Eye tracking
Remote
category
testing
Remote card
sorting
Sample Size
Large
Small
Online Survey
Focus Group Usability Lab
True Intent & Remote
unmoderated usability testing
Market Research (attitudes)
Full User Experience (attitudes & behaviour)
Research type
Remote
unmoderated testing
& True Intent
Being remote
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Eye tracking testing
An eye tracker is a device for measuring eye
positions and eye movements
Allows testers to determine eye movement and
eye-fixation patterns of a person. Find out:
which aspects of your product caught attention
which get ignored.
The heat map is very useful in gathering insight
into a group of users
A gaze plot shows the individual gaze movements
and shows the order and path a user looked.
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Good Luck!!
Twitter @crourke @uservision
London: 020 7917 1840
Edinburgh: 0131 225 0850
www.uservision.co.uk