Usability Testing - Adding a New Level to Your Toolbox

Usability Testing Adding A New Level To Your Toolbox

About Me

•  Working in the field of User Experience since 2010

•  Secretary for the User Experience Professionals Association (UXPA), DC Chapter

•  Certified Usability Analyst (CUA)

•  Technical Business Analyst background

Agenda

•  What Is Usability Testing?

•  Why Usability Testing Is Important to a Business Analyst

•  Components of Usability Testing

•  Types of Usability Tests

•  When to Conduct a Usability Test

•  Usability Test Exercises

•  Questions

What Is Usability?

People being able to successfully use a product, system, or service and how they expect it to work.

Great usability is invisible.

Bad usability…you know it when you see it.

Image Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulhagon/

Identifying Usability Issues

•  High number of errors

•  Significant time-on-task

•  Low customer satisfaction scores

•  Lots of help desk calls / tickets

•  High abandonment rates

What Is Good Usability?

•  Simple

•  Easy to understand

•  Recognizable

•  Clear purpose

•  Learnable

http://www.wqusability.com/articles/getting-started.html

The 5 E’s

•  Effective

•  Efficient

•  Engaging

•  Error Tolerant

•  Easy to Learn

Image Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/whatwhat/

Why Do Usability Testing?

•  Aligns the customer’s goals with the business goals

•  Ignoring small issues can turn into big problems

•  If the user is not happy, everyone is unhappy

Usability Testing vs. UAT

•  Usability Testing: o  Verifies whether an

implementation approach meets the user needs

o  Conducted at any time during the development cycle

o  Does not serve as quality control

o  Increases the quality of UAT outputs

•  User Acceptance Testing: o  Process of verifying that the

deliverable meets the requirements

o  Conducted at the end of the development cycle

o  Quality control

Buying A Suit Online

Buying A Suit Online

UAT verifies that I can select a suit style, size, and complete my purchase online.

Buying A Suit Online

UAT verifies that I can select a suit style, size, and complete my purchase online.

Usability Testing can verify: •  How quickly I can purchase a suit

online •  How satisfied I am with the online

purchase process •  The intuitiveness of the purchase

process is for me •  How much the online purchase

process will help me recover from an error

•  What unforeseen issues I will encounter in the purchase process

What is Success?

•  Reduction in hidden downstream maintenance costs (developer time)

•  Reduction in training time

•  Reduction in help desk support

•  Higher task completion rates

Most Importantly…

More satisfied users!

When Should You Test?

Brainstorm Ideas

Prototype Test Implement Research

Usability Testing Process

Usability Testing Cycle

Develop Tasks

Watch Your Users

Report Findings

Create a More Usable

Product

Components

•  What will you test?

•  Where will you test?

•  Who will you test with?

•  How will you test?

Testing Materials

•  Wireframes

•  Data Entry Form

•  Screenshots

•  HTML prototype

•  Live or staging site

•  Mobile Apps

•  Competitor’s site

Where Will You Test?

•  What is the product? •  What is the context of use?

Image Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nestle/

How Will You Test?

Single Usability Test

o Laboratory Test

o Remote Test

o Hallway Test

•  Traditional type of usability test •  Scheduling participants to meet

you at a predetermined location •  Takes course over several days •  Average time: 60 minutes per

user

Laboratory Test

•  Virtual meeting held over the phone and a computer

•  Scheduling participants to call you on a conference line

•  Takes course over several days •  Average time: 60 minutes per

user

Remote Test

Image Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/oreocookies/

•  Attract people in a high pedestrian traffic area

•  Can be completed in one day •  Least Expensive •  Average time: Up to 20

minutes per user

Hallway Test

Image Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/oreocookies/

Key Players

•  Facilitator – Person who conducts a usability test

•  Observer – Person who records notes during a usability test

•  Participant – Person who is testing the website

Designing a Usability Test

•  Open with easy intro questions

•  Ask open ended questions when possible

•  Questions can ask a user to accomplish a task

•  Questions can ask a user to provide their perspective

Qualitative Testing

•  Looking for common themes and specific insights from your users

•  Testing five users per user type o  Who are your users?

o  Doctors vs Patients

o  Buyers vs Sellers

o  Federal vs. Non-Federal

How Many Participants? “The answer is five…except when it’s not.”

http://www.nngroup.com/articles/how-many-test-users/

Nielsen Norman Group, June 4, 2012

Discuss Your Findings

Document Your Findings! Image Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/juhansonin

Usability Test Exercise

Image Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lukeydargons/

Put Your Participant At Ease

Image Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/brizzlebornandbred/

Be An Active Listener

Image Credit: http://seniorhousingforum.net/blog/2014/01/09/you-be-the-judge-cool-or-scary/

Be Unbiased!

Don’t Lead Your Participant Image Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnragai/

Let the Participant Fail

Thank Your Participant

Facilitator Best Practices

1.  Put your participant at ease

2.  Be an active listener

3.  Be unbiased

4.  Avoid leading your participant

5.  Let the participant fail

6.  Thank your participant

Prompts:

•  Can you tell me what you are thinking?

•  Do you have any additional thoughts?

Wrap Up