Dave Obrien has posted details on tree testing, a mechanism for evaluating a draft information architecture. To quote: As we started experimenting with “card-based classification” on paper, it became clear that, while the technique was simple, it was tedious to create the cards on paper, recruit participants, record the results ...
Articles tagged: usability testing
Inexpensive ways to target problem areas
Todd Elliott has written an article on remote usability techniques. To quote: Until fairly recently, when designers wanted to test an idea or design, they sought out an outside usability agency or, rented a room, some expensive equipment and recruited users to come into an artificial environment to participate in ...
Some testing is better than none
Ideally, all intranet design projects should adopt a design approach which consults with users throughout the process, from identifying needs to input and evaluation of structure and design. This is not always possible. Time and cost limitations occasionally result in corners being cut with testing often being the victim, because ...
Relaunch of usability.gov
I heard on the grapevine recently that usability.gov has been refreshed and relaunched. This is a superb resource that every web and intranet designer should know about. To quote: Usability.gov is a one-stop source for government web designers to learn how to make websites more usable, useful, and accessible. The ...
Stop calling it usability testing
Patrick Kennedy writes about the confusion surrounding usability testing. To quote: The term “usability testing” often gets misconstrued by technical types, project managers and business analysts. It gets turned into a stale, rigid, bureaucratic affair. The old “unit, integration, system” mantra. It’s done as a matter of course, at the ...
Asking participants to “pretend” in user studies
Jared Spool has written about the dangers of getting users to pretend during usability testing. To quote: One of the places we kept noticing this was when we watching people shop online. Asking a shopper to pretend to purchase (“Could you find a pair of shoes you might like to ...
Quick turnaround usability testing
Paul Nuschke writes about quick turnaround usability testing techniques. To quote: It starts with any number of scenarios: Design and development have taken too long to produce a prototype, you need to release in three weeks, and you suspect there may be design flaws. You are trying to incorporate usability ...
