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Lec 10 Us Ability Testing

Usability testing is a crucial UX research methodology that evaluates user interfaces by observing participants as they complete tasks. It aims to identify design problems, improve user experience, and understand user behavior and preferences. Various testing types exist, including qualitative and quantitative methods, as well as remote and in-person testing, each with different costs and benefits.

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Makhon Chandra Hajra
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29 views6 pages

Lec 10 Us Ability Testing

Usability testing is a crucial UX research methodology that evaluates user interfaces by observing participants as they complete tasks. It aims to identify design problems, improve user experience, and understand user behavior and preferences. Various testing types exist, including qualitative and quantitative methods, as well as remote and in-person testing, each with different costs and benefits.

Uploaded by

Makhon Chandra Hajra
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Usability Testing

Evaluating Design Through User Participation


• You don’t know how good a user interface is until you try it out on people.
– Can people figure it out?
– If we change the design how will the user’s behavior change?
• Designers think differently than users, test on users!

Example of Designers vs. Users


• Amazon – added coupon code and lost money
• Why?
• Having that feature causes people to go online and search for coupon codes and
many don’t come back.

User’s experience
• Is the interface usable?
• Is the user satisfied?
• Is the user’s experience pleasant?
• Is the user happy/frustrated/angry when using the interface?

Usability Testing
• Popular UX research methodology
• A researcher asks a participant to perform tasks on an interface
• Participant completes each task while the researcher observes
• (usability testing is often interchangeable with user testing)

• In a usability test, representative users try to do typical tasks with the product,
while the development staff watch, listen, and take notes.
In a usability-testing session, a researcher (called a “facilitator” or a “moderator”)
asks a participant to perform tasks, usually using one or more specific user
interfaces. While the participant completes each task, the researcher observes the
participant’s behavior and listens for feedback.

Why Usability Test?

The goals of usability testing vary by study, but they usually include:
 Identifying problems in the design of the product or service
 Uncovering opportunities to improve
 Learning about the target user’s behavior and preferences

Why Do Usability Testing?


 Identify usability problems in the product
 Even the best UX designers can’t design a perfect user experience without
iterative design driven by observations of real users and of their interactions
with the design.

Elements of Usability Testing

There are many different types of usability testing, but the core elements in most usability tests

are the facilitator, the tasks, and the participant.


A usability-testing session involves a participant and a facilitator who gives tasks
to the participant and observes the participant’s behavior.

The facilitator administers tasks to the participant. As the participant performs


these tasks, the facilitator observes the participant’s behavior and listens for
feedback. The facilitator may also ask followup questions to elicit detail from the
participant.

Tasks
• Realistic Activities
• Examples:
– You're considering opening a new credit card with Wells Fargo. Please visit
wellsfargo.com and decide which credit card you might want to open, if any.
– You’ve been told you need to speak to Tyler Smith from the Project Management
department. Use the intranet to find out where they are located. Tell the researcher
your answer.

Capturing results of User Evaluation


• Option for capturing results
– Notebook to write things down.
– May record video which can help.
– Screen recording if want to capture what they did to user interface.
– Will you interrupt the user to see what they’re thinking or ask them to think out
loud?

Thinking Aloud Method


• Users say what they are thinking, feeling, doing as they go about their task.
• Observer objectively takes notes on everything user says.
• Often sessions use audio or video.
• May need to prompt them to remind them to keep talking.

Types of Usability Testing


Qualitative vs. Quantitative
• Qualitative usability testing -collecting insights about how people use the
product. Best for discovering problems in the user experience. More
common than quantitative.
• Quantitative usability testing - focuses on collecting metrics that describe
the user experience. Example: task success and time on task.
• Quantitative methods are helpful when evaluating the usability of a site.
• Qualitative data can tell you what the problems are that users encountered.
• Qualitative methods can be used to supplement quantitative ones.

Remote vs. In-Person Testing


Remote usability tests are popular because they often require less time and money
than in-person studies. There are two types of remote usability testing: moderated
and unmoderated.
Remote moderated usability tests work very similarly to in-person studies. The
facilitator still interacts with the participant and asks her to perform tasks.
However, the facilitator and participant are in different physical locations. Usually,
moderated tests can be performed using screen-sharing software like Skype or
GoToMeeting.
Remote unmoderated remote usability tests do not have the same
facilitator–participant interaction as an in-person or moderated tests. The
researcher uses a dedicated online remote-testing tool to set up written tasks for the
participant. Then, the participant completes those tasks alone on her own time. The
testing tool delivers the task instructions and any followup questions. After the
participant completes her test, the researcher receives a recording of the session,
along with metrics like task success.

In remote unmoderated usability testing, the flow of information changes because the facilitator
does not interact with the participant in the same way as an in a moderated test. The testing
platform takes on the role of the facilitator, administering tasks to the participant. The researcher
designs the study and upload task instructions on the platform, and then reviews the data after
it’s collected, usually by observing video recordings of the tasks.

Cost of Usability Testing


Simple, “discount” usability studies can be inexpensive, though you usually must
pay a few hundred dollars as incentives to participants. The testing session can take
place in a conference room, and the simplest study will take 3 days of your time
(assuming that you have already learned how to do it, and you have access to
participants):
 Day 1: Plan the study
 Day 2: Test the 5 users
 Day 3: Analyze the findings and convert them into redesign
recommendations for the next iteration
On the other hand, more-expensive research is sometimes required, and the cost
can run into several hundred thousand dollars for the most elaborate studies.
Things that add cost include:
 Competitive testing of multiple designs
 International testing in multiple countries
 Testing with multiple user groups (or personas)
 Quantitative studies
 Use of fancy equipment like eyetrackers
 Needing a true usability lab or focus group room to allow others to observe
 Wanting a detailed analysis and report about the findings.
The return on investment (ROI) for advanced studies can still be high, though
usually not as high as that for simple studies.

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