Usability Testing Exercise

Purpose  When you think of usability testing, think a an active peer review of material (e.g., software, home appliance, hardware tools) or textual (e.g., instructions, web page, policy statement) products you have created. The purpose of usability testing is to examine how a target audiences uses the product so that you can make an informed decisions on how to revise or redesign the product to suit the users' actual practices. The following two exercises have been designed to introduce you to the principles of usability and give you the opportunity to practice designing a usability test.

Part 1, Conducting a Usability Test

Before Class

Read Usability.gov's "Method's of Designing Usable Web Sites" and "Usability Basics" and Grantconsulting.com's "Usability Storyboard." Be prepared to ask questions about any principles that you may not understand; also start thinking about how these research practices apply to consumer's use of other products (i.e., material goods) or documents (e.g., manuals, policy statements).

During Class

The instructor will take one students through a usability test to demonstrate to the rest of the class the practices of conducting this method of research. During this exercise the rest of the students will be responsible for observing what the volunteer does and taking notes on these actions.

Part 2, Designing a Usability Test

Before Class

Read Sullivan's "Beyond a Narrow Conception of Usability" and Salvo's "Ethics of Engagement: User-Centered Design and Rhetorical Methodology." Be prepared to apply these principles to your own usability test design.

During Class

Now that you have seen a usability test conducted and are familiar with the rhetorical ethical nature of usability testing, you will put this knowledge into practice by designing your own usability test.

Instructions

With your principles group...

• choose a software application in the Microsoft Suite (i.e., Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Frontpage) that all of your group is familiar with.
• choose two tasks (e.g., create your own template for a slide show, sort data, track changes) within this software that you want to learn how people use; choose tasks that you all know how to do.
  
• design a usability test tool that allows your participant to demonstrate how s/he would accomplish the task using this software product. Remember...
  
  
  • that this will be different from the instructor's demonstration because you are testing the actual product, you are not testing documentation of the product; therefore your instructions to the participant will be less precise
  • you are testing the product, not the user
  • you will want to inform your participant of what you are doing and what you want them to do during the testing procedure
  • you will want to collect information from the participant prior to the test and after the test
    
    
• In addition to this tool, you will write a Rationale Memo that...
  
  
  • explains who you would have take this test
  • where and when you would have someone
  • and provides a rationale for these decisions, as well as the overall design of the usability test tool.

Submitting Your Usability Test Exercises

After the class has talked about your usability test design (February 20, 2003), your group will submit the following work in a single pack...

• the notes that you took during the usability test demonstration
• the usability tool your group designed
• the Rationale Memo