Testing and Modeling Users Kristina Winbladh & Ramzi Nasr.
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Transcript of Testing and Modeling Users Kristina Winbladh & Ramzi Nasr.
Testing and Modeling Users
Kristina Winbladh & Ramzi Nasr
Usability
Usability means that the people who use the product can do so quickly and easily to accomplish their own tasks
We want to build usable products How do we know whether our product is
usable? Testing
Usability Testing
Planning a usability test Defining goals and concerns Choosing participants Design Predictive Models
Planning a Usability Test
How long does usability testing take?– Important for clients and managers to know– Development does not have to stop
Time factors– Complexity of the product?– How much of the product is to be tested?– Number of participants?– Test preparation?– Test evaluation/report?
Examples
Microsoft– 8-12 weeks– Testers work together with developers – Formal reports
General Electric Information Services– 4-6 weeks– 3 days to determine participants and tasks– Week 1&2 test: scenario & questionnaire design – End of week 2: pilot test– Week 3&4: conducting the test w 12 participants– Week 5: test data analysis– Week 6: finished the report
Can you do it faster?
1 Week– In-house usability specialists conduct test– Each test covers only a few features– Participants background is already known– Tasks are short– Generate short report
1.5 days…– Special case
What can you do to make testing successful? Planning! Starting testing w/o thinking about:
– What aspects might not be as usable as they should be?– How well do the participants represent the actual users?– What tasks will we ask them to do in the short time they
have?– What information are we going to collect?– How are we going to analyze the information?– What are we going to do with the analyzed information?
The steps
Define the goals and concerns that are driving the test Decide who should be participants Recruit participants Select and organize tasks to test Create task scenarios Decide how to measure usability Prepare other materials Prepare testing environment Prepare test team Conduct pilot test
Team Work
Usability specialists Designers and developers Technical communicators Trainers Marketing Helpdesk or customer assistance
Usability Testing
Planning a usability test Defining goals and concerns Choosing participants Design Predictive Models
Defining Goals and Concerns
You cannot do exhaustive testing– Make choices among goals and concerns– Move from general concerns to specific
ones– Understand sources of goals and concerns
Making Choices Among Goals and Concerns Clearly define the concern that the
study will answer Prioritize all the concerns
Moving From General Concerns to Specific Ones Refinement Example
– General: how easy is it to use the system?– Specific: how long does this specific task
take?
Understanding Source of Goals and Concerns Sources:
– Task analysis and quantitative usability goals
– Timely issues– A heuristic analysis– Previous tests of this or other products
Usability Testing
Planning a usability test Defining goals and concerns Choosing participants Design Predictive Models
Choosing Participants
Steps for choosing participants:– Developing user profiles– Selecting subgroups for a test– Defining and quantifying characteristics for
each subgroup– Deciding how many people to include in a
test
Developing User Profiles
Collaborative work with:– Marketing, usability specialists, product designers
Use– Surveys, focus groups sessions, contextual
interviews, current users of previous version
Characteristics:– Those that all users will share– Those that might make a difference among the
users
Profile factors
Work experience General computer experience Specific computer experience Experience with this product Experience with similar products
Selecting Subgroups for a Test
Dividing users into subgroups Adding more characteristics Selecting the most critical
characteristics Gathering other information
Defining and Quantifying Characteristics of Each Subgroup
“Intermediate” users Setting a minimum and a maximum for
a subgroup Selecting a range of participants within
each subgroup
Deciding How Many People to Include in a Test Less than half of usability problems
found with 3 participants (Nielson and Molich, 1990)
80% of usability problems detected with 4-5 participants (Virzi, 1992)
90% of usability problems detected with 10 participants (Virzi, 1992)
Deciding How Many People to Include in a Test (Cont.) The number of participants to include in
a test depends on:– Number of subgroups needed– Budget and time– Importance of computing statistical
significance of results
Usability Testing
Planning a usability test Defining goals and concerns Choosing participants Design Predictive Models
Design
Techniques– Video, interaction logging, questionnaire,
interviews
Tasks– Time to complete– Number/Type of errors per task/unit time– Number of help requests– Number of users per error/success
Testing conditions
Design (Cont.)
Variables and Conditions Allocation of participants
– Different participants– Same participants– Matched pairs of participants
Data collection and analysis
Usability Testing
Planning a usability test Defining goals and concerns Choosing participants Design Predictive Models
Predictive Models
Measure user performance without testing the users
GOMS (Goal, Operators, Methods, Selection rules)
The Keystroke Level Model
Balance Time, Money, and Information Gain