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Page 1: 3 Usability Techniques

Three ways to help users understand

your information

A usability workshop for World Usability Day

Whitney QuesenberyGinny RedishKate Walser

November 10, 2010

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Topics for this workshop

Introduction to usability and usability techniques

Three techniques for today Persona / story walk-through

Hallway review

Informal usability test

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Introduction to usability and usability techniques

Poster from Usability Professionals’ Association showing an overview of a user-centered design approach

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Plain language and usabilitygo hand in hand

Plain language means that people can Find what they need

Understand what they find

Use the information to meet their goals

Usability means that people can meet their goals Effectively (completely, accurately)

Efficiently (in an appropriate amount of time)

With satisfaction

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Usability is about people

Photo credits iStockphoto, russeljsmith, Trace Center

All kinds of peopledoing all kinds of thingsonline and offline

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Different types ofpeople…

doing differenttasks…

have differentusability needs

depending on their goals and tasks

For this person efficiency and effectiveness are the most important dimensions.

For this person, easy to learn and error tolerant are the most important dimensions.

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Usability focuses on users’ behavior

Understanding users' needs Designing to meet those needs Making sure you have met those needs

− in the time and effort that users are willing to spend

Attitudes and satisfaction are important. But most important is what people do

with your document or web site.

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Usability is a toolkit of techniques

Do a final usability testto compare to benchmark

Use each technique − when you need it and at the right scale.

Watch, listen to, and talk with users as they work(contextual interviews)

Articulate your business goals

Analyze search logs and server logs

Conduct benchmark usability tests

Create personas

Set measurableusability goals

Develop your content strategy

Write relevant stories

Inventory your content

Do card sorting

Prototype (or write drafts) iteratively

Create a style guide and templates

Analyze and measurefor maintenance

Do persona / story walk-throughs

Do hallway reviews

Do rapid, informal iterative usability testing

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Persona / storywalk-throughWhen you have no timeand no access to users

Persona of a commuter, created in a workshop at the Society for Technical Communication

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What is a persona / story walk-through?

A usability technique that

takes no special equipment or set up

gets your whole team involved in the process

And can even be a bit of fun!

You can do this (and any of our techniques) with

a document (paper, web-based)

an entire web site or a partial web site

a specific web topic or even one web page

We'll call this your "content.”

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Step 1: Don’t look at it yet

Sounds contradictory?

You have only one chance to look at somethingfor the first time and to think about it like a new user.

If you look at it before you try to use it, you’ll see it differently.

If you are reviewing your own material, set it aside for a fewhours before you do the persona / story walk-through.

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Step 2. Write down your goals for your content

Success − for youand your users

Your site visitors' goals (and their reality)

Answer people's questions about your topic

Have people complete a transaction correctly without calling

Get more people to fill out a form correctly without calling

Your organization'sgoals for this specific document or content

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Step 3: Create a mini-persona

Who is using your content? Who is a typical person for this content?

What adjectives or phrases describe this person?(busy? anxious? curious? nervous? knows relevant technical vocabulary? or not?done this lots of times or never before?)

Give that person a name, an age,a few personal characteristics

Think about how well you know this person, and how much they are − or are not − like you.

Mariella Garcia

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Step 4: Tell that persona's storyrelated to your content

Why has that person come to your content?

What is your persona's goal?

What is your persona trying to do? looking for?

What does your persona expect to find? to happen?

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Step 5: Walk through your persona's story as the persona

"Channel" your persona.

Start where your persona would in the story. When / how would your persona get the document?

(Open the envelope.)

Where would your persona start in the web story?(Know the URL? Go to Google?)

Go through the content (document, web site, web topic, web page) as if you were the persona carrying out the persona's story.

Take notes of what works well and what does not.

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Try it!

We'll work on this example:

Home page of the Tricare web site.

Tricare is the medical insurance company for military personnel, retirees, and their families.

It offers several plans with health, dental, pharmaceutical coverage.

The site must serve current and new customers.

That should be enough for you to set up a persona / storywalk-through.

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Try it! Work with a neighbor

1. Don't look at it yet.

2. Write down Tricare's goal(s) for the web site.

3. Create a mini-persona of one typical user of the Tricare web site.

4. Write the start of the persona's story. Why is your persona coming to the Tricare site?What does your persona expect to happen?

5. Now be your persona doing the persona's storyand make notes about how well the Tricare home page works or does not work for your persona and your persona's story.

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Considering what you learned

Positives: Did any part of what you were reviewing work well?

Concerns Relationship problems

Are the organization's goals and the persona's goals in alignment? How well does the site satisfy either set of goals?

Conversation problems Are the headings, text, and images meaningful to your persona? Did your persona understand the words? find where to click?

Appearance problems Does it look tidy and attractive? Is space used well?

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Making use of what you learned

Reporting

Include at least one positive comment.(You want to keep what is working well.)

Have examples of problems from the persona’s perspective.

Think about how critical the problems are.

Think about what keeps the persona from being successful.

Fixing

Yes, fix the easy-to-fix problems.

But fixing the one or two most critical problems is much more important.

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A bit more about being user-centered

What we’ve just done is a persona / story walk-through

The user's story – the persona and goal – guides the review.

Your knowledge of usability and good design helps you understand the problems the persona encounters.

Guidelines or a checklist can help you keep important points in mind.

Ginny did a large review with this technique for AARP.

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What are the benefits and risks of this technique? Benefits

Easy to do.

Doesn't need users, space, equipment.

Risks You may know less about these users than you think.

Methods that rely only on guidelines are known to be rather poor at predicting actual problems.

You (or your colleagues and managers) may resist doing usability testing because the review seems good enough.

You become over-confident.

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Doing a little bit more

Get a second opinion. More people means more insights and less chance

of getting fixated on a minor issue.

Decide whether you want more or less expertisein the persona and the reviewers.

Add a wider coverage of people and tasks. Include more personas, especially those that contrast.

Include more stories for each persona.

Make the report more comprehensive − if that will actually accomplish what you need. More detailed descriptions of problems.

Include screenshots to point to specific problems.

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Hallway reviews

Getting input from morepeople in your organization

Post-it notes with comments about a home page (portal) for students who are new to the Open University

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What is a hallway review?

A usability and design technique to capture feedback from Target users

Team members

People in the organization

Customers

Post screenshots or examples of the information in Meeting rooms

Hallways

Online (using tools like Notable − screen shot and link on a later slide)

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Step 1: Decide what to review

Which do you want to review? Information – use a printout of the wording

Information plus design – use a screenshot or wireframe

What do you want hallway reviewers to critique? Clarity – can someone read and understand it easily?

Tone – does it set the right tone?

Context – is there enough to help with understanding?

“Enablers” – do the surrounding elements (design, headings, label, etc.) help reinforce the message?

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Step 2: Think of questions AND bounds

Help frame the feedback Post personas and sample scenarios / tasks with questions to

gauge ability to complete scenario (e.g., What’s the penalty for paying late? Where did you find the answer?)

Post thought-provoking questions (samples on next slide)

What will hallway reviewers know that your personas won’t? Think of the game “Taboo”

Background information

Internal, insider words, phrases

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Sample questions

1. Could you answer [question 1]? If so, where did you find the information?

2. How clear is the information?

3. What else would the reader need to know to understand thisinformation?

4. Are there any design elements that promote understanding?

5. What would you suggest rewording?

6. Are there any words your friends, family, or colleagues wouldhave trouble understanding?

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Step 3: Find the right place

High-traffic areas when you need… Volume

Diverse population

Lower-traffic areas, but with RIGHT people Subject matter experts

Help desk

Trainers

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Step 4: Gather materials and post

Get approval / clearance if needed

Sample materials Large easel sticky notes

Print-outs of site pages or pamphlets

Post-it notes (arrow post-it notes too!)

Tape

Pens, markers

Answer drop-box (if you want to review answers to questions)

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Or set up an online area to collect

Notable – http://www.notableapp.com

flickr – http://www.flickr.comTo give people “Add a note” option, go to You > Your Account > Privacy & Permissions

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Step 5: Check in and observe

See reactions as people encounter the review

Check response rate Post new copies of screenshots if response rate is good

Adjust the “framing” if needed Provide more clarification on task

Follow up on questions, results as appropriate

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Try it!

We'll work on this example:

Information that the Washington State Department of Revenuewrote for every business owner in the state.

Organization's goals: If business owner owes this tax, pay it.

If business owner does not owe this tax, go on record to say that.

Persona: Owner of a small business with 10 or fewer employees.

Is very busy; needs to spend most of time focused on the business.

Doesn't want to get in trouble with Revenue, but doesn't know tax law or tax language.

Gets a lot of mail from a lot of sources.

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Considering what you learned

Positives: Did your reviewers make any positive comments?

Concerns: What did you learn from reviewers' comments about - Relationship problems

Are the organization's goals and the persona's goals in alignment? How well does the site satisfy either set of goals?

Conversation problems Are the headings, text, and images meaningful to your persona? Did your persona understand the words? find where to click?

Appearance problems Does it look tidy and attractive? Is space used well?

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What are the benefits and risks of this technique? Benefits

Quick and easy

Cheap

Fewer time constraints than scheduled sessions

Can reach more reviewers and cover more ground

Risks More often, gather feedback from insiders –

less often, target users

Similar challenges to focus groups – one reviewer’s commentsmay influence another

Little chance to learn more about the comments

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Can we lessen the risks?

Separate the markings from the commentsAsk reviewers to Initial / mark the area they want to critique

Jot down the comments / ideas and drop in a box andreference the mark (e.g., KW1)

Spread out the hallway reviews Requires more effort aggregating feedback

Distributes the number of comments that could bias otherreviewers across multiple copies

Use copies of the same screenshots and give each its own“focus” (e.g., clarity, tone, etc.)

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Usability testing

Informal testing with people who use your information

Informal usability testing of voting materials at the Farmer's Market in Olympia, Washington

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What is a usability test?

Observe real people using something in a realisticor semi-realistic environment Not just asking them about it

See how easily real people find what they need to accomplish a task Confirm or challenge assumptions

Improve materials Don’t argue about design or language. Test with real users.

Learn where and how to prevent mistakes or help peoplerecover from mistakes.

Find where the information is not "plain" enough for peopleto revise it.

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How easily can we learn from users?

Gathering feedback from people can be as simple aswatching someone use something to find information. Let them explore the material as they would really do.

Don’t explain or demo.

Watch what they do.

Note where they do and do not read.

Listen to their comments.

Take their problems seriously.

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How easily can we learn from users?

Usability testingdoes not have to be formallengthy, or expensive.

You don’t need a formal laboratory 100s of participants special equipment special recording systems

Poster from Washington State

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Why not do this in a group?

In focus groups, you get

preferences

opinions

group consensus

In a usability test, you get

individual behavior and performance

what happened, as well as why

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What do you need for a usability test?

What The material you want to test

Where A quiet room (Maybe. We know of very successful

usability testing in an open marketplace, a hangar at an air show, the chemotherapy center at the NIHClinical Center.)

Who Moderator

Observer/note-taker

Users: 3 − 6 people, one at a time

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The moderator runs the session

Impartial, unbiased, observing

No teaching!

Listen and watch

Open-ended questions: Why?How? What were you doing?

Moderator roles:

Flight attendant: Ensuring safety and comfort

Scientist: Planning, maintaining objectivity, managing data

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Briefing the user

Thanks for trying out this […]. Your doing this will help improve this material.

Note: If you never use the words "test" or "evaluate" with the user,you will not have to say "We are not testing you."

You can stop anytime.

Your involvement will be confidential.

If you get stuck or confused, say so.

Please let me know what you are thinking as you use this …

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Techniques to maximize information

If the user says, “hmmm” or “oops” or “I wonder…” Say, “What questions do you have right now?”

If you are doing "think aloud" and the user is silent for 10 or 20 seconds (count!) Say, “What are you thinking?”

If users stop because they think they're done or they are stuck (and you think there’s a problem) Summarize what you saw the user do.

Ask "What would you do now?"

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Think aloud during − or after the task

Consider asking people to “think aloud” as they work What they’re doing

Why they’re doing it

If it's a usability test that you can't do with think aloud,go back over the material Ask the participant to walk you through what they did

and why.

Use the material as a guide for the discussion.

Ask if anything was confusing or frustrating.

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Different ways of having people try outdifferent materials Web site where you are observing people both find and

understand information Ask participants for their own scenarios. (Have you used this

site? What for? Please show me how you did that with this site. or Would you be likely to use this site? What for? Please show me how you would do that with this site.)

Give participants scenarios you have written. (Write scenarios that will have people use parts of the site you are worried about.)

Use both of these with their own scenario first.

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Different ways of having people try outdifferent materials Single document (letter, notice, one web page)

Paraphrase: Have participants

read a section themselves (depending on the document that could be a sentence, a paragraph, a heading and the text under the heading)

tell you in their own words what it means (note what they get right, what they get wrong, and what they leave out)

Read, comment, and answer questions:

Have participants go through the document as they would if you were not there, while commenting to you with their reactions as they go through the document.

Then ask them questions about facts from the document. (You can write the questions like scenarios.)

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Observers and note-takers

Watch quietly. Do not distract the person participating in the usability test.

Do not react to anything that happens during the test.

No laughing, gasps, shaking your head, whispering.

Do not ask questions or try to discuss the test with the participant.

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Observers and note-takers

Take good notes.

Write down what you see and hear.

Be specific. Not "he's confused." But "he said he doesn't know what APR means."

Don't translate. Put down the user's words.

Don't infer the user's reasons for doing something. (The moderator may ask as it is happening. If not, at the end, you may be able to ask the moderator to take the user back to the event and ask what was happening then.)

Don't solve problems while taking notes. That's for later. It will take all your concentration to note what is happening.

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Observers and note-takers

Watch (and listen) for whether the user has any trouble understanding or following instructions?

asks questions or appears confused?

has to correct mistakes or re-read information?

has any comments?

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Watch and listen to a demostration

We'll demonstrate a short usability test.

You are all observers / note-takers.

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Try it

Break into small groups (3-4 people) Choose 1 person to be the participant

Choose 1 person to be the moderator

Others observe and take notes

Participants all come up to the front to get a briefing while the moderators and observers become familiar with the document we are going to have you try out.

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Considering what you learned

Positives: Did any part of what you were testing work well?

Concerns Relationship problems

Are the organization's goals and the persona's goals in alignment? How well does the site satisfy either set of goals?

Conversation problems Are the headings, text, and images meaningful to your persona? Did your persona understand the words? find where to click?

Appearance problems Does it look tidy and attractive? Is space used well?

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Base your findings on what the users did and said Did they read or use the information accurately?

Were there any

signs of hesitation or confusion?

misreadings or misunderstandings?

requests for assistance?

adaptive behavior?(taking out reading glasses, moving closer to the document, holding the paper up to the light − could all be signs of problems with the information design)

surprises?

other expressions of emotion (anger, disgust, delight, satisfaction)− what specific aspects of the materials were those about?

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Report on what you observed in the test

How you report depends very much on your situationand the usability maturity of the organization.

Reports can range from a brief memo of what was agreed on in a debriefing meeting

(Everyone involved observed sessions, attended the meeting, and will fix the problems.)

a short report with very brief identifying information, and then bulleted lists or tables of findings and recommendations(Usability testing is well understood and people just need the results to act on.)

a detailed report with an explanation of usability testing, details of what you did, quantitative and qualitative results, video clips and screen shots, recommendations

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Can we really find problems runningusability tests with so few people?

Yes!

This is not “science” but a way to find problems…and fix them before the material is released.

Experience tells us that usability testing uncovers problems more clearly than any other method.

Seeing the problem is the first step to solving it.

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Rocket Surgery technique

Steve Krug's "do it yourself" method test on a regular schedule, a morning a month

test to get answers to a limited number of issues

3 participants (one hour each)

observers note 3 insights from each of the 3 sessions

debrief and decide immediately after the sessions

to participate in decisions based on the test,you must observe at least on session

no report! just a brief memo of what the team will change inthe next month

tweak to fix; just do what is needed to eliminate the problems

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Write relevant stories

Usability is a toolkit of techniques

Do a final usability testto compare to benchmark

Do persona / story walk-throughs

Prototype (or write drafts) iteratively

Create a style guide and templates

Use each technique − when you need it and at the right scale.

Watch, listen to, and talk with users as they work(contextual interviews)

Articulate your business goals

Analyze search logs and server logs

Conduct benchmark usability tests

Create personas

Set measurableusability goals

Inventory your content

Do card sorting Develop your content strategy

Analyze and measurefor maintenance

Do hallway reviews

Do rapid, informal iterative usability testing

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Usability andplain languagemust be designed in

They can’t be piled on top after the rest of the design is done!

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Plain language matters.

The Center advocates for clear communication and plain language everywhere − in government, business,

non-profits, and universities.

www.centerforplainlanguage.org

Twitter @plain_language

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We support those who use plain language, train those who should use plain language, and urge people to demand plain language in all the documents they receive, read, and use.

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The Center’s projects include:

• ClearMark awards, celebrating the best in clear communication and plain language

• WonderMark awards, telling the world what’s not plain.

• Demand to Understand, encouraging everyone to demand clear communications before they sign an agreement.

• Educational programs about plain language− like this one.

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Plain Language and usability resources

What is plain language?http://centerforplainlanguage.org/about-plain-language/

How-to for plain language: guidelines and tools http://www.plainlanguage.gov/howto/index.cfm

How-to for usability: basics, templates, and guidelines http://www.usability.gov

Toolkit for starting plain language in your organizationhttp://centerforplainlanguage.org/toolkit/

Usability training at Web Manager Universityhttp://www.usa.gov/webcontent/wmu/

Usability Professionals’ Associationhttp://www.usabilityprofessionals.org

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Books on usability and plain language

Letting Go of the Words by Ginny Redish

Handbook of Usability Testing (2nd Edition) by Jeffrey Rubin and Dana Chisnell

Rocket Surgery Made Easy (The Do-It-Yourself Guide to Finding and Fixing Usability Problems)by Steve Krug

Storytelling for User Experience by Whitney Quesenbery and Kevin Brooks

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Janice (Ginny) RedishRedish & Associateswww.redish.net

Whitney QuesenberyWQusabilitywww.wqusability.com

Kate WalserCX Insightswww.cxinsights.com

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.A

ppropriate form

at?

– What w

ould the person

a most like

ly do after ope

ning the envelope this d

ocume

nt came in?

• C

ontext? – Is there enough context to prom

ote understanding

? W

hat other con

text wou

ld the bu

siness ow

ner need?

• C

larity? –

Can som

eone read and

understand it ea

sily?•

Tone? – Does it set the right tone?

•E

nablers? – D

o the design, headings, and labe

ls help p

eople "ge

t" the m

essage?

Review

er com

men

tsC

apture your reviewers' com

ments. M

ark each as positive / n

egative,

Page 68: 3 Usability Techniques

Gin

ny R

ed

ish, W

hitn

ey Q

ue

sen

be

ry, Ka

te W

alse

r: Ce

nte

r for P

lain

La

ng

ua

ge

Planning a usability testN

ame o

f do

cum

ent, w

eb site, w

eb p

age

Go

als for th

e web

siteW

hat does the org

anization wan

t to achieve through this web site

?

Usab

ility particip

ants

What a

re the chara

cterstics of the p

ersonas you w

ant to pa

raticipate in

this test?

Usab

ility test go

alsW

hat do you

want to lea

rn?•

Clarity – D

o participants understa

nd the in

formation?

C

an they tell if this brochure is approp

riate for them?

Do they unde

rstand the service being offered?

Can the

y answer sp

ecific questions from the inform

ation?•

Style and tone – Is th

e tone o

f the writing

and d

esign style app

ropriate? D

oes the de

sign a

nd structure of the in

formation help

them fin

d specific in

formation quickly?

• A

ctions? – Wha

t actions migh

t they take after reading this brochure?

Do you

have

any specific qu

estions you w

ant the usability test to

answer?

Page 69: 3 Usability Techniques

Gin

ny R

ed

ish, W

hitn

ey Q

ue

sen

be

ry, Ka

te W

alse

r: Ce

nte

r for P

lain

La

ng

ua

ge

Session outline (from the practice test)

Intro

du

ctio

nH

i, my n

am

e is _

__

__

__

__

__

__

, an

d I’m

go

ing

to b

e w

orkin

g w

ith yo

u to

da

y. A fe

w o

f m

y colle

ag

ue

s are

he

re a

s we

ll to h

elp

ou

t. [Intro

du

ce th

em

]. Th

is sessio

n w

ill take

a

bo

ut 1

5 m

inu

tes. I’ll a

sk you

to re

ad

a sh

ort b

roch

ure

, an

d th

en

talk to

me

ab

ou

t it. O

ur g

oa

l is to se

e h

ow

we

ll the

bro

chu

re w

orks fo

r diffe

ren

t pe

op

le, so

we

can

im

pro

ve it. P

lea

se d

on

’t wo

rry tha

t you

are

go

ing

to h

urt o

ur fe

elin

gs. W

e’re

do

ing

this

to le

arn

, so yo

ur h

on

est re

actio

ns w

ill he

lp u

s the

mo

st. B

efo

re w

e g

et sta

rted

, I ha

ve a

few

qu

ick qu

estio

ns fo

r you

.F

irst, wh

at b

ran

ch o

f the

service

we

re yo

u in

? W

he

n w

ere

you

disch

arg

ed

?

Ha

ve yo

u re

ceive

d a

ny in

sura

nce

or d

isab

ility pa

yme

nts re

late

d to

you

r service

?

Go

ing

thro

ug

h th

e b

roc

hu

reT

he

first thin

g I’d

like yo

u d

o to

is take

this b

roch

ure

. Ple

ase

do

wh

ate

ver yo

u w

ou

ld

you

do

if som

eo

ne

ga

ve yo

u th

is bro

chu

re o

r you

picke

d it u

p, A

s you

go

thro

ug

h it, if

the

re is a

nyth

ing

you

do

n’t u

nd

ersta

nd

or w

an

t to ta

lk ab

ou

t wh

en

you

are

do

ne

, use

th

is pe

n to

ma

ke a

ma

rk ne

ar it.

Le

t the

m g

o a

ll the

wa

y thro

ug

h th

e b

roch

ure

. Ob

serve

the

ir pro

gre

ss, bu

t do

n’t

inte

rrup

t. Wh

en

the

y are

do

ne

(the

y say th

ey a

re o

r the

ir bo

dy la

ng

ua

ge

tells yo

u

the

y are

)…G

rea

t. Co

uld

you

tell m

e, in

you

r ow

n w

ord

s, wh

at th

is bro

chu

re is a

bo

ut?

Th

an

ks. No

w, le

t’s loo

k at th

e th

ing

s you

ma

rked

. G

o o

ver e

ach

ma

rk, askin

g th

em

ab

ou

t wh

y the

y ma

rked

it.

No

w, I h

ave

a fe

w q

ue

stion

s for yo

u:

•Is th

is a se

rvice yo

u w

ou

ld u

se?

Wh

y or w

hy n

ot?

•A

re th

ere

an

y req

uire

me

nts to

be

elig

ible

to u

se it?

•W

ho

pro

vide

s this se

rvice?

•W

ha

t do

you

ge

t from

this se

rvice?

•If yo

u w

an

ted

to u

se th

e se

rvice, h

ow

wo

uld

you

con

tact th

em

?T

ha

t’s all o

f my q

ue

stion

s. Do

you

ha

ve a

ny co

mm

en

ts?

Wa

tap

up

Th

an

k you

…G

ive th

em

the

ir ince

ntive

(or re

min

d th

em

tha

t it will b

e se

nt to

the

m). T

ha

nk th

em

a

nd

sho

w th

em

ou

t.


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