a method of analyzing an interface by the standard principles of usability. For questions regarding whether to conduct a usability study or how to best go about testing.
2
votes
1answer
101 views
Testing with new vs. experienced users
A bit of backstory first: I'm setting up a usability test involving electronic medical records (EMRs). The test has to follow some draft testing guidelines (long pdf) set up by the National Institute ...
2
votes
2answers
299 views
What is a good method/formula for estimating how much time a usability test will require?
I was setting up a usability test at my office where we have never done much formal usability testing. One of management's first questions was, "How long will this take?" I didn't have a good answer ...
0
votes
3answers
329 views
Is there any cross-platform screen sharing software that I can use for remote usability studies? [closed]
I want to conduct some remote usability studies (the people I need to test are in a different country and traveling is not possible at the moment) and I'm having trouble finding screen sharing ...
1
vote
4answers
252 views
A/B testing VS UX usability enhancement by UX guy?
What us the point behind A/B testing if everything will be decided by the users inputs of websites then Is there any role for UX guy in this case?
Should we give preferences the results of A/B ...
3
votes
1answer
138 views
Testing multiple page level design changes for perfomance and preference
I was asked to pick one page on a large site and mock-up improvements for testing. I tested the old page with task analysis, satisfaction survey, and a card sort.
I changed about 15 aspects of the ...
10
votes
5answers
180 views
Helping participants in usability tests
I've just completed a round of lab-based, co-present usability tests as part of a usability audit for a web-based map application. I have ten tasks for the participants that require them to perform ...
6
votes
2answers
381 views
How to test search function in usability test but at the same time not force user to use the search
I am doing usability test on a product which I think might have problems with it's search function. I want to test search function with users, but I don't want to restrict user information retrieval ...
3
votes
2answers
422 views
Framework or plugin for tracking user actions on a web application
I've been working for a while on various proof-of-concept applications for social network privacy, which I've evaluated for publication with various user studies.
Is there a useful, free, framework ...
4
votes
2answers
122 views
Is there any research on mitigating the effects of using a non-representative user group on measuring perceived usability?
My client is running a series of vendor demonstration where they want the staff to measure the perceived usability of the system (SUS and SEQ).
Originally we asked for a consistent group of ...
2
votes
1answer
76 views
Multivariate test conversion: short vs long path
Let's assume we a workflow with 3 steps.
Page 1 is our landing page.
Page 2 is the form (signup).
Page 3 is the conversion page (thank you page).
To test variations on page 1, I am running a ...
14
votes
2answers
534 views
5-second tests vs. the short-term memory
I've recently been participating in random tests on http://usabilityhub.com and I find myself cringing when the 5-second tests come up and feeling guilty at my seemingly useless responses once I'm ...
5
votes
4answers
255 views
Is it effective to ask users which design they prefer and why?
I have a few different options for the UX of a tool. Each is quite different from the other.
They are currently represented as lo-fi wireframes. I would like to get feedback on them to decide which ...
7
votes
6answers
760 views
Using Balsamiq Mockups with Usabilla for remote usability tests
We are defining the usability process for our company and are looking at tools for prototyping and remote usability testing. We would like to use Balsamiq Mockups to do our inital designs but have a ...
6
votes
1answer
187 views
Evaluation / validation of paper mobile prototypes?
Is there a way to evaluate/validate your paper prototypes other than asking your user and explaining your design?
13
votes
12answers
253 views
When is automated remote usability testing useful?
There seem to be a fair few services these days offering automated remote usability testing, so I'm assuming there are a fair few people using those services, which implies that they ARE useful - ...
13
votes
13answers
290 views
Is user testing a luxury or a necessity?
I understand that you should be thinking of your users all the time but given the current climate where every pound counts is user testing just for the richer companies?? Should you discount your ...
8
votes
4answers
324 views
Show tooltip immediately or only after a click on the “i”
I've got a loan applicant form.
All the fields are required and most of them got a describing tooltip.
I struggle when it comes to the point how to show the tooltips.
Hide them until a user clicks a ...
8
votes
3answers
294 views
How do you A/B test a ranking algorithm?
Let me give a hypothetical situation on A/B testing a ranking algorithm. Say I'm in charge of the popularity ranking algorithm on Youtube. I need to surface the most interesting videos to top of the ...
2
votes
2answers
204 views
Best methods to find users for in-person user testing? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
How to recruit user test participants?
There are a number of new tools available to conduct automated, oftentimes remote user testing (Treejack, Chalkmark, etc.). ...
5
votes
3answers
405 views
Are there any guidelines for usability testing a Metro app?
How do I conduct usability test on a new Win-8 Metro application when the expected users don't have any experience on that platform?
I'm going to test on PC and not on tablet.
3
votes
3answers
398 views
Does gender affect the results of a usability test?
There's a question on Quora asking for opinions about subjects' gender impact on usability tests. I think this topic is very interesting given that people of different genders prefer different visual ...
7
votes
8answers
362 views
Does it matter whether I use a Mac or a PC for a website's usability test?
I'm going to do a qualitative usability test of a consumer website in an office.
I assumed it would be better to use a PC computer because I think it is a more popular computer among the general ...
1
vote
4answers
199 views
Any inputs on how to conduct an usability evaluation of a site (when you dont have access to user data) [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
How to find out usability problems myself?
A lot of times I have been asked by friends to have a look at their sites or apps which they designed and give feedback from ...
9
votes
3answers
344 views
Paper prototype testing on checkout?
I would like to run few iterations of user testing on a checkout re-design. This project is still in the early stage so I would like to take full-advantage of the situation and run testing sessions on ...
6
votes
2answers
594 views
Conducting a competitive analysis
What are the questions you need to ask or the methods you perform when you're doing a competitive web site analysis from a UX perspective? How do you gather the facts? When in the project process do ...
12
votes
11answers
413 views
How do you take notes at speed?
One of the things that I've quickly found out when doing usability testing and field studies is that it's hard to keep up with the pace of what's going on and take sufficient notes.
How do you cope ...
9
votes
6answers
422 views
How to find out usability problems myself?
I'm a tester.
Currently when I see something that I don't like I suggest amending it and specify how. However I don't often see specific problems in application's usability and when I do I don't ...
2
votes
1answer
79 views
Testing with current clients
I'm working on improving a product that rarely gets new customers (since it targets a very small specialized niche), and I'm not sure how usability testing would work here. I assume that current ...
1
vote
1answer
58 views
Recommended usability testing firms to do international testing with?
We want to do a baseline usability study in Italy and Russia next year. Can anyone recommend a good consulting agency that would be able to help us in either country? Or just a good international ...
2
votes
3answers
100 views
Numbering Cards for Card Sorting Excercise
I am going to be conducting various card sorting exercises with a small group soon and I have a question about how to label some of the cards.
I have about 6 that will contain words that I would like ...
0
votes
2answers
108 views
User testing browser add-on
I'm working on a browser add-on that has some novel usability ideas, and I'd like to test them out on some users. The add-on interacts with the user's password data and usage, and I'd like to collect ...
4
votes
5answers
368 views
Benefits of recording user facial expressions when testing
Every "proper" test setup seems to include a camera / webcam for recording the user and a lot of articles I've read in the past recommend it as part of a setup, but sources never really go into a ...
9
votes
2answers
161 views
How do you test phrasing of labels, links, and descriptive text?
At my workplace, an academic library, we often have extended conflicts over exactly how to phrase labels, links, and descriptive text.
For example, one link on our home page goes to a list of topics, ...
1
vote
4answers
81 views
How to make user testing incentives fair internationally
I have some usability testing that is taking place in several different countries. The overall budget for incentives is set (in £) but dividing this equally between all countries and then converting ...
3
votes
5answers
201 views
Can we get a simple process for a “discount usability test?”
I would like to do a discount usability test. What are the steps I should take to come to an insightful conclusion?
How do I recruit the people?
How do I setup the test?
How do I define the tasks ...
9
votes
4answers
422 views
Paying test subjects for user testing/beta testing
I've read that focus groups are a poor way of conducting user research as it attracts professional focus groupers who work the focus group "circuit" for a living. This obviously has major drawbacks as ...
7
votes
9answers
371 views
Has anyone been to Jakob Nielsen or Steve Krug's day-long seminars?
Both these gentlemen are offering day-long seminars in London this spring:
Jakob Nielsen - Fundamental Guidelines for Web Usability for £458
Steve Krug - Do-It-Yourself Usability Testing: The ...
7
votes
1answer
353 views
User Testing: 5-second test vs. 8-second test
I'm planning a "User Testing" and one of the tasks is the 5 (or 8) second test, so I want to know which fits better in my interface.
I can't remember what article talks about the difference between ...
5
votes
3answers
1k views
Usability testing software with Eye tracking tools
I took a course in Human Computer Interaction last semester, and I find it very interesting. I am working on a website project, and thought I would try some user involvement.
I was thinking about ...
3
votes
2answers
196 views
How to perform field studies and usability testing when your target group is e-commerce managers and business executives?
If you are working on a project aimed to this type of difficult to reach user and you still want to keep a proper Lean UX approach, how do you face the problem of finding users for gathering insights ...
7
votes
2answers
134 views
How do I test the effectiveness of copy earlier in the project?
Me and the UX team at our company are looking for a best practice on testing written copy. We make sketches using Balsamiq, we prototype it, test it, iterate it and then test it using Dreamweaver.
We ...
18
votes
7answers
229 views
What's the biggest surprise you've had in a usability test? [closed]
Usability tests often present some real surprises where the participant's mental model does not match what they're presented with.
What are the biggest or most interesting surprises you've come ...
39
votes
7answers
2k views
How do you prevent scope creep in agile projects when usability testing?
I have a client who recently asked me about this problem. I was wondering how you'd handle it?
They are new to UX and to Agile methods, so they are struggling in interesting ways.
As part of a ...
1
vote
1answer
121 views
A service like Usabilityhub's Navflow but featuring branching?
For testing navigation flows of static screens/image mockups Usabilityhub's Navflow is a pretty nifty service/tool.
However, to my knowledge it only allows the test creator to specify one single path ...
8
votes
6answers
335 views
How to design user evaluation tasks without leading people to 'the answer'?
By way of example: on the site I am testing I have a page that shows a piece of information; and a side panel that shows related / similar information from other areas of the site. How do I test ...
4
votes
2answers
271 views
Beta testing: How should users be selected?
We'd like to get data and feedback from real users on a new search principle on a live page (not A/B testing because too many things were changed).
Question: How should participating users be ...
7
votes
6answers
361 views
Plus icon for new tab not working in user testing. Anomaly or actually confusing for users…
For Context:
So I am performing some user testing, and the interface is changing how tabs work with in the system. Currently tabs indicate the top level of different customer define hierarchies. The ...
6
votes
9answers
392 views
Isn't all user testing essentially a way of gathering how people think things should work?
When user testing is performed, users are often presented with a serious of variations of a product and observed to see where they excelled and where they had trouble. People will often click in areas ...
1
vote
3answers
448 views
What makes Silverback a usability program?
I can't get any reply from Clearleft, so I will ask here.
What makes Silverback a usability program? I mean, it records audio and video, from webcam and desktop. Like many others.
Does it show how ...
3
votes
2answers
118 views
What are some best practices when doing testing to compare different design ideas?
There's a particular feature of our (B2B) app that seems to be causing a lot of confusion. (It involves lists of urls, some of which can be quite long, and giving different statuses to different ones. ...
