Introduction to usability testing and five methods you can use to improve usability in your own projects.
Read more: http://www.volkside.com/2011/05/usability-testing-just-do-it-5-methods-for-improving-usability-inhouse
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Usability testing – Just Do It. Five methods for improving usability in-house
1. Volkside
Interaction & information design,
Interaction and information design
User experience and usability
User experience and usability
Usability testing – Just Do It
Five methods for improving usability in-house
Jussi Pasanen, April 2011
1
2. About Volkside
We help you listen to your users and create
them engaging online experiences
Products: Naview and Wirify
Founded in 2008
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3. What is usability?
Usability measures how easy user interfaces
are to use
It’s also the methods for improving ease-of-use
during the design process
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10. Are we designing or testing?
User-centred design: Involve users throughout
the design process to understand and meet
their needs
Usability evaluation: Review and test the
usability of an existing website
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11. What is usability testing?
Usability testing is observing and listening to
your users whilst they interact with your
website
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12. Why do usability testing? Why
See how people actually use your website for
its key purposes and find and fix issues they
run into
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14. Typical web project with usability
Pre-project Design and development Live site
Kick off
Launch
Usability testing
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15. Web project in an ideal world
Pre-project Design and development Live site
Kick off
Launch
Usability testing
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16. The traditional usability test …
Participant, facilitator, maybe note-taker
Usability lab with one-way mirror
Video cameras and screen recording
Lots of stakeholders watching
Detailed reports and long turnaround times
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24. ... is not what we're talking about today
Instead:
Lightweight usability methods
that you can regularly use yourself
in your own projects to
make and keep your website usable
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25. Interlude
“If you can afford to hire a usability professional
to do your testing for you, do it.”
– Steve Krug
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27. Five usability methods
1. Task-based usability test
2. First click test
3. Five second test
4. Comprehension test
5. Online survey *
With compliments to Steve Krug and Christine Perfetti
* Bonus: not a usability method as such
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29. Task-based usability test Why
See how people actually use your website for
specific tasks and find issues they run into
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30. Task-based usability test
Participant completes a set of tasks using
a sketch, prototype or the actual website
Facilitator observes and listens to the
participant, making notes of issues
Mainstay of usability testing and
foundation of many other methods
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31. Task-based usability test How
1. Prepare your sketch, prototype or website
2. Prepare user tasks
3. Prepare participant profile and recruit users
4. Prepare test sessions
5. Run test sessions
6. Revise your design based on findings
7. Retest
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35. Define your tasks
Write up the tasks you want participants to
perform using your website
Make sure your tasks are clear & concise and
provide just the right amount of context
It’s essential to get these tasks right
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37. Example tasks
“According to this website, what are the two
ways of referencing quotes in essays?”
“Where would you find the lecture schedule for
the linguistics course?”
“Where would you go to register your
attendance?”
“How would you ...”
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40. Couple of things not to worry about
Having a ‘final’ design ready
Testing with large number of participants
Perfect audience profile and recruitment
Recording and annotating videos
Writing reports
Strict protocols
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41. Some things to keep in mind
You’re always testing your website, never the
participant
It’s a personal one-on-one session, not a focus group
Test with people with no prior exposure to the website
Write good tasks
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42. Some more things to keep in mind
Let the participant do the talking
Ask what they’re thinking and trying to do but
do not lead the participant
Be careful with 'feedback' and 'opinion' type
questions
Learn to be a good tour guide and therapist
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43. Task-based usability test Tips
Most important thing: just do it
Address the main issues you find
as soon as you can
Test early and test regularly
Improve by doing the least you can
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46. First click test Why
Measure the effectiveness of your homepage
or landing page
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47. “The number one purpose of the homepage is
to get people off of it.” – Christine Perfetti
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48. First click test How
Give your participant a task and a page on your
website
Participant clicks the page at the point they think
is most appropriate for completing the task
You analyse results using click heat map and
response timings
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49. Your task Demo
“You want to sell an old coffee table and are
considering the Trading Post.
Where would you go to find out how much it
costs to post a classified there?”
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50. “You want to sell an old coffee table and are considering the Trading Post.
Where would you go to find out how much it costs post a classified there?”
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60. Five second test Why
Measure the effectiveness of content pages
with single primary purpose
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61. Five second test Why
Understand if you are communicating a particular
message or goal
Learn what are the most prominent parts of your
design from the user’s point of view
See if your page priorities are right
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62. Five second test How
Give your participant a page to look at
for five seconds only
Ask questions afterwards
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63. Background Demo
“You are in the market for broadband internet.
One of the service providers offers a bundled
product, and you want to learn more about it.”
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64. Instructions Demo
The following page will be displayed for
five seconds only
Try to remember as much as you can
Answer the questions provided afterwards
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66. Questions Demo
1. What was the most important information
to you on this page?
2. What were the signup options?
3. Was is clear what the product is?
4. Was is clear what to do next?
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67. Five second test Tips
Most useful for pages with one main point and
purpose
Not so useful for homepage or landing page with
multiple priorities
Very quick but you will need to test with multiple
participants
Tools: paper, pdf, FiveSecondTest, Clue
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77. Questions Demo
1. Which three ways can you register as a
Library user?
2. Once you have joined the library can you
request items from the catalogue before
your Library card arrives?
3. Once you have received your Library card
can you borrow and take material home?
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78. Comprehension test Tips
Similar to reading comprehension tests except
you’re not scoring or assessing the reader but
the content itself
Multiple choice questions are preferred
Not useful for homepage or landing page
Remember: good online content is always
written for the web
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81. Online survey How
Prepare a set of questions relevant to your
website and target audience
Publish as an online survey and send link to
participants
Analyse results and make changes
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85. Online surveys Tips
Keep surveys short and painless to maximise
response rate
Take action and change your website based on
findings
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86. Online surveys Tips
Explain how information will be used
Collect email address in an optional field
Useful for later usability testing
Include privacy notice
Tools: email, Excel, Google Docs,
SurveyMonkey-Wufoo
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88. In closing
Usability is easy and anyone can do it
Observe and listen to learn about your users
Testing with one person is heaps better than none
Change and improve your website continuously
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92. References
Steve Krug (2005): Don’t Make Me Think! - A Common Sense Approach to Web
Usability http://www.sensible.com/dmmt.html
Steve Krug (2009): Rocket Surgery Made Easy. The Do-It-Yourself Guide to Finding
and Fixing Usability Problems http://www.sensible.com/rocketsurgery/index.html
Steve Krug: Demo Usability Test for Rocket Surgery Made Easy
http://youtu.be/QckIzHC99Xc
Christine Perfetti (Webstock 2011): Adventurous Usability Techniques: Novel
Approaches for the Seasoned Pro
http://www.webstock.org.nz/talks/speakers/christine-perfetti/adventurous-usability-
techniques-novel-approaches-/
TechWeb: Touring Google's Usability Lab
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esUfsi7bPu4
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94. Articles
Volkside: What is usability and why should I care?
http://www.volkside.com/2009/04/what-is-usability-and-why-
should-i-care/
Volkside: Test your screen designs with Infomaki
http://www.volkside.com/2009/07/usability-test-with-infomaki/
Volkside: Tip: Print out your usability testing tasks
http://www.volkside.com/2009/12/tip-print-out-your-usability-
testing-tasks/
Volkside: Using Treejack to test your website structure
http://www.volkside.com/2009/04/using-treejack-for-ia-testing/
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