Usability Testing

Posted on July 10, 2010

Lab Testing

With Lab: put subject in a separate room with one-sided glass and record his reactions to the product
Without Lab: observe subject from a distance and mark down his reactions to the use of the product. Could also ask him to be verbose.

Field Testing

Structured Observation: observe subject in his home
Longitudinal Studies: leave product with subject for some time. ask for feedback when picking up product.

Expert Testing

Heuristic Evaluation: evaluation against a set of principles (e.g. “error messages should be expressed in plain languages without any codes” will be ensured)
Cognitive Walkthroughs: exploration walkthroughs where the problem solving of the user is replicated (e.g. print the page: would the user know how to do it? would he know where to look?)

User Testing

Focus Groups: Traditionally, 6-12 users are moderated by a facilitator who has an agenda of finding out their preferences on certain features of the product & can dig down deeper by asking them their reasons. He ensures everyone gets equal chance to voice their opinions and keeps his questions unbiased, so as not to steer them towards a certain opinion. Online focus groups are also used nowadays.
Survey: A question paper asking users about their preference and experiences with the product. Reliable results if done by more than 65% of the people who were asked. Cannot probe deeper as in a focus group. People usually don’t write much in open-ended questions.
Interviews: One-on-one form of focus group. Can dig deeper for information and interviewees are willing to give more info, but is expensive. Can get good responses to open-ended questions.
Internal Sources of Customer Feedback: Tech Support (gets most questions on hardest part of the product), Trainers (who train others on the use of the product)