Quick and dirty usability testing tips?

Question

What are your best usability testing tips? I need fast and cheap.

Answer 1

Even though Steve Krug is aiming for web design, the excellent “ Don't Make Me Think: A Common Web Approach to Web Convenience” in the second edition at least) is an excellent chapter entitled “Testing Usability at 10 cents per day, "which I think applies to a much wider range of platforms.

This chapter details the usability tests done quickly and dirty in a low budget environment (without money and / or without time), and illustrates some of the most important considerations for getting the initial “feel” of a thing.

Some of the points that I like, in particular:

• You do not need to test with a huge number of people (also echoes Jakob Nielsen )
• A live reaction costs a lot; if possible, make sure that developers can see the reaction (perhaps using a camcorder and a TV, this should not be expensive).
• Testing a few early people is better than later.

Joel Spolsky is known for defending a “ hallway usability test ” where you grab a few passing users and ask them to complete a simple task, partially inspired by the “multiple users providing most of the results” philosophy, it’s also relatively convenient and inexpensive, and it can be do so often.

Answer 2

Ask someone who is not technical and not familiar with it to use it.

The archetypal non-technical user, one elderly and scatterbrained maiden aunt. Invoked in discussions of usability for people who are not hackers and geeks; one sees references to the "Aunt Tillie test".

Aunt Tilly Test (Probably today you need a better name and age, but this is what he was talking about)

Answer 3

You have to watch how people use your application. If you work for a company with a reasonable size, do some “hallway checks”. Pull someone who walks past your door to the room and says something like: “Could you credit the salary in this system for the next month? It only takes two minutes.

I hope they will not have any problems, and this should not be too much imposing on people walking by. Correct any hiccups or smooth out any processes that are unnecessarily complex and repeated. Lot.

Also, make sure you know what usability is and how to achieve it. If you haven’t done so yet, check out “Everyday Things Design” .

Answer 4

Some helpful tips here.

One mistake I made earlier in my career turned a usability test into a learning exercise. I spent a lot of time explaining how to use the application, rather than letting the user understand this. He taught me a lot whether my applications were easy or difficult to use, because they were perplexed that they tried to use the application.

One thing I did was a very simple script for what I wanted the user to do and then let them go. He didn’t have step-by-step instructions (“press button A, then press button B), but instead he said things like“ create a new account ”and“ make a deposit. ”From this, the user should“ research ” my application, and I realized how easy it is to use.

Anyway, it was pretty cheap and pretty useful for me.

Answer 5

Quickly and cheaply does not cut. You should invest in a user experience system, starting with setting clear goals for your application or website. I know that this is not what people want to hear, but after observing and observing a large number of user tests for many years, using Nikelsen usability methods in most cases is not enough. Of course, if your design really sucks and has made huge mistakes in use, then 80% of crud will leave the system quickly and dirty. But, if you want long-term, high-quality usability and user experience, you should start with a good team of designers. And I do not mean good graphic designers, but good information architects, interaction designers, XHTML / CSS coders and even web analytics specialists who will ensure that your website / application measures clear goals and indicators. I know this is a lot of $$$, but if you are serious about your business (I am sure most of us), we need to get real money and invest in advance instead of trying to figure out what went wrong as soon as the whole thing on the net.

Answer 6

Another topic for research is heuristics for ease of use. This may give you general advice. Here's the use of heuristics

Answer 7

If you don’t know where to start, start small. Sit with a friend on your computer. Explain that you want them to complete the task using software and watch what they do.

It helps to keep quiet while they really work. Write it all. "John spent 15 seconds looking at the screen before acting. He moused over the top nav to see if it contained popup menus. He first clicked "About Us" even though it wasn't central to his task." Etc.

Then use the acquired knowledge to help you develop more complex tests. Tests with different users from different fields of knowledge. More challenging tasks and more.

Fold them. A webcam mounted on a monitor is a good way to capture where their eyes move. A VCR running 45 degrees over your shoulder is a good way to capture your vision. Bonus points if you can synchronize them in time. Do not worry if you cannot do all this. Do what you can do.

Do not plan your test as if it is the last one you will ever need, and you want to achieve its perfection. No perfect. The only thing that comes to perfection is many iterations and many repetitions. You can only come close to 100% certainty, as the number of tests approaches the number of actual users of your software. Usually no one comes close to this number, but everyone should try.

And don't forget to retest people after you have included the improvement that you saw. The same people, different people, everything is in order.

Do what you can do. Do not cry what you cannot do. Just cry, so you can check, but not done.

Answer 8

I answer very late, but I thought about asking similar questions about some ideas. Perhaps it is better to leave everything in this matter.

I would say that:

• I do not teach people about your application. Let them have fresh eyes.

• Ask them to do some assignments and record their actions with a tool such as camstudio http://camstudio.org/

• After the test, ask them to answer such simple questions. Here is my list:

  • What was your first feeling when accessing the application?
  • Can you identify the key concepts that are used by the application?
  • What are the three positive things about the application?
  • What are the 3 negative things about the application?

What do you think of these ideas?