Usability Testing Essentials (eBook)

Front cover 1
Usability Testing Essentials 6
Copyright page 7
Contents 10
Foreword 16
Acknowledgments 18
About the author 20
Image credits and permissions 22
Introduction: Getting started guide 24
Usability is invisible 24
U R usability 26
How to use this book 26
But wait, there's more on the companion website 30
Chapter 1 Establishing the essentials 32
Focus on the user, not the product 33
Start with some essential definitions 33
Know when to conduct small studies 40
Know how to conduct small studies 41
Know when to conduct large studies 43
Think of usability testing as hill climbing 44
Chapter 2 Testing here, there, everywhere 48
Testing in a lab offers some benefits 49
Formal labs can cost a lot, or not 57
Informal labs can be set up anywhere at very little cost 60
Field testing gets you into the world of your users 61
Remote testing extends your reach to your users 64
Choosing the right method is a balancing act 71
Chapter 3 Big U and little u usability 76
Introducing big U and little u usability 76
Using a user-centered design process 77
Opening your toolkit and seeing what's there 79
Choosing heuristic evaluation from the toolkit 82
Conducting a heuristic evaluation 84
Comparing the results from heuristic evaluation and usability testing 89
Putting both methods together: The 1–2 punch 91
Cost-justifying usability 92
Case Study: Heuristic evaluation of Holiday Inn China website 95
Chapter 4 Understanding users and their goals 106
People are goal-oriented 107
When people use the web, they bring their experience and expectations 108
Personas help you get to know your users 117
Scenarios tell the story of your users' goals 122
Chapter 5 Planning for usability testing 128
Scheduling the planning meeting 129
Writing the test plan 165
Case Study: Test plan for Holiday Inn China website usability study 171
Chapter 6 Preparing for usability testing 180
Recruiting participants 181
Assigning team roles and responsibilities 185
Developing team checklists 186
Writing the moderator's script 190
Preparing or using other forms 193
Creating questionnaires 196
Using standard post-test questionnaires 204
Creating or using qualitative feedback methods 208
Testing the test 211
Case Study: Sample test materials for Holiday Inn China website usability study 216
Chapter 7 Conducting a usability test 222
Setting up for testing 223
Meeting, greeting, briefing 223
Being an effective and unbiased moderator 230
Managing variations on the theme of testing 241
Providing help or customer support during testing 246
Logging observations 248
Handling observers and visitors 249
Working solo 253
Case Study: Session log from Holiday Inn China website usability study 257
Chapter 8 Analyzing the findings 262
What did we see? 263
What does it mean? 272
What should we do about it? 282
Case Study: Findings analysis from Holiday Inn China website usability study 293
Chapter 9 Reporting the findings 300
Following Aristotle's advice 302
Preparing the message for the medium 302
Writing an informal memo report 303
Writing a formal report 306
Presenting the findings 312
Presenting post-task and post-test results 323
Making recommendations 327
Presenting an oral report 330
Advocating for more UCD 335
Case Study: Report of Holiday Inn China website usability study 338
Chapter 10 International usability testing 342
Learning about your international users 343
Understanding cultural differences 347
Applying the work of Hall and Hofstede to understand international users 354
Planning for international testing 357
Structuring the test protocol 365
Selecting the moderator 369
Anticipating other aspects of international testing 371
Case Study: Analysis of the UPS Costa Rican website 376
References 378
Index 390
A 390
B 390
C 391
D 392
E 392
F 393
G 394
H 394
I 394
J 396
K 396
L 396
M 396
N 397
O 397
P 398
Q 399
R 400
S 401
T 403
U 404
V 405
W 405
Y 405