Slide text: Usability Tests in a Nutshell: The Six Steps for Success Christine M. Perfetti Founder, Perfetti Media www.perfettimedia.com www.uxideas.com What is a usability test? A usability test involves putting your users in front of the product and observing what they do Conducting your first test Usability testing is not a science Anyone can conduct a usability test You can't conduct an "incorrect" test Testing any user is better than testing no one Goals: Observe problems users experience with product and listen to questions users ask Six steps for a usability test Step 1: Plan the test You can't test everything Focus on what is most essential to learn Schedule a planning meeting with stakeholders to: Define the goals of the test Outline research questions Discuss user profile and major tasks Write a test plan based on info gathered from meeting Sections of a test plan Goals of the study Research questions and issues User profile Test method Schedule Tasks Data to collect Step 2: Find users Recruiting the right users is key to success User demographics are typically not an important characteristic of users Focus on recruiting for user behaviors Focus on behaviors Where to find users Your existing customer database Craigslist Friends and family Friends of other users User groups Temp or real estate agencies Recruitment firms Step 3: Write realistic tasks Provide users with tasks and scenarios Tasks should focus on business and user goals What do users typically want to accomplish? Step 4: Facilitate the tests Observe users' behavior when interacting with the product Facilitator is responsible for: The safety and comfort of users Gathering the data from the test Analyzing the data Questions to ask Is that what you expected? What are you thinking? What are you trying to accomplish? What does this mean to you? Can you say more about that? Step 5: Analyze the data The type of analysis will depend on the type of test you're running and the goal of the test Formative test: Identify problems with product and iterate Focus on qualitative data and prioritizing observations Summative test: Demonstrate success of design Establish success metrics before test Step 6: Communicate results Reports Highlight video Presentations and workshops Working meetings with project team Email or internet dashboard Thank you! Sign up for the UX Ideas newsletter to get notified about the latest presentations www.uxideas.com Follow us on Twitter: @uxideas Perfetti Media: www.perfettimedia.com Thank you to Chicken Wing Software for providing the infrastructure for UX Ideas: www.chickenwingsw.com
Video length: 30:21
