1

I designed a dashboard layout for my company's monitoring application and had a couple of users go through a usability test session while using the application to see how usable to dashboard is.

On one of the user tasks, I wanted them to use a graph on the dashboard to complete the task. However, some of the users used a detailed graph on another page to complete the task. Would this be considered a failed task? Or would it be considered as a completed task since they were able to find the answer they're looking for?

1 Answer 1

3

It won't be considered a failed task, because the user has completed the task (so for all purposes, the requirement has been satisfied).

However, we often distinguish between 3 cases:

  • Ideal-path completion - meaning the user has completed the task in the shortest/intended sequences of steps.
  • Divergent-path completion - meaning the user has completed the task, but not using the ideal path.
  • No completion

This correspond to green, amber and red in the following table (from a report):

A task vs participant matrix, showing each cell coloured green, amber or red

1
  • Thanks for the explanation. That makes more sense now. I found it odd to fail them even if they completed the task.. just not in the most efficient way.
    – Yeezy
    Sep 21, 2015 at 23:12

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.