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Small-Scale Usability Testing “Evolution Not Revolution”
Darlene [email protected]
March 12, 2003
Computers in Libraries 2003
Outline
What is usability? What is user testing? Why conduct tests? 3 types of small scale tests
Cognitive walkthroughs Preference testing Task based testing
What is usability?
Ease of use
Ease of learning
Fitness for purpose
An effective product
What is user testing?
Involves actual users interacting with the web site
Typically users are asked to perform tasks while usability evaluators observe and take note of their actions
Why conduct user tests?
How do you know it works?
Why test?
As web managers we want to offer the best service that we can
Even the best designers are not representative of the users of their systems Poor judges of what users want and
need
Why test?
Web development is expensive, and supporting a poorly designed system is even more expensive
“pay now or pay later” Unhappy users who will leave; often
social and political costs
Reasons for NOT conducting tests
1. Too much money Usability testing can fit any budget
2. Not enough time This is not the case
3. Requires a expert consultant There are many tests you can do
yourself
Usability Evaluation Techniques
Less than an Hour Cognitive walkthrough
Less than Half a Day Preference testing
1 Days to 2 Weeks Task based testing
Cognitive walkthrough
Development team collectively walks through the site
They assess: Whether the user has the right
information on the current screen to make the next right action
Whether the user even notices the option
Whether the user will confidently make the right choice
Cognitive walkthrough works best when:
You clearly identify and personalize the user: Joyce, a 40 year old nursing student,
has to complete a paper on asthma education programs. She is working from home …
You designate a recorder to take notes of trouble areas
You have an open culture where you can question things, “would she”?
Typical user of a public library site
Jason, 12 years old, keen reader Likes Stephen King’s books He’s in the library, read all the
books at his local branch, and wants to request books from another location.
Old version
Old version of catalogue
Default is author
Stephen King
Results screen
New design
•Catalogue is more prominent
•But does it look clickable or like an ad?
•Does “liric” the brand name help or hurt?
New search screen
•Controls are placed BEFORE the box where you type
•Default is title keyword – most common?
•Will he think to change it?
Mockup Stage
Home page See if your “user” could find the correct
1st step on the path to completing the 5 most common tasks for your site
Workflow applications with forms Difficult to design without a cognitive
walkthough
Union Catalogue Search Page Mockup
When can you use a cognitive walkthrough?
Almost at any stage as long as you have a some ideas of the screens and wording
Best used early in development to prevent problems when live
Can be an effective technique to use on a live site before redesign
Preference testing
Also called “cookie” testing Zero in on troubling labels
Example: Interlibrary loan
Which label best describes asking your library to order a book from another library?1. Request book from another library2. Interlibrary Loan3. Request forms4. Books from other libraries
“Live Reference” on Health Sciences Library Site
Words in the label and the design were crucial to the use
How could we get the right words? What about the design?
Testing the Wording
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Rounds 4-5: Small graphic and wording
Task testing with users
Users are given specific tasks Asked to verbalize their thoughts Observe, record,
and debrief
Guerilla testing
Guerilla style testing was popularized by Jakob Nielsen
Showed that simple “low tech” testing of five to seven users could yield excellent results
5 users will typically uncover 80% of site-level usability problems
Example tasks
1. Find a 5 scholarly articles on global warming
2. Find a book on patenting human genes3. Find out when your books are due4. Find the phone number for the library
closest to your house.
Measurements
Time on task Number of errors Difficulty in
NavigationUnderstanding site structure
User satisfaction
Edmonton Public Library
Took two tactics for testing: Full blown site wide testing on the
“current” site Small scale testing for iterations of
the home page Much quicker to carry out
Edmonton Public Library Home page
One week Had two designs
One more minimalist One “portal” style with many links
Tested for 3 afternoons Participants were asked where they’d
click to try to complete 7 tasks We wanted a very high success rate on
the main page
New Home Page – 6 Rounds of Tests
Task Based Testing
Excellent way to gather data If you can’t “formally” do tests,
consider “informally” was you watch someone try to find a book or journal on your web site. Train yourself to be an observer
Testing just 1 user is 100% better than testing no users at all
Can short tests be effective?
Absolutely! First testing gets done. You can focus on a particular aspect of the
site that is troubling and fix it anytime. Avoid the pitfalls of waiting for a big
study: Web team is overwhelmed by so many things
to fix that they are parallelized Big studies are timed just before the site
launches – too late to change anything substantive
Key Advantage of Short Tests
You can do more of them Often the “problem” Is easier to
spot than the “solution” Several rounds of testing help you
get a solution that works well
Iterative
In conclusion
Usability testing does not have to be: Expensive Time consuming Difficult
It’s a great technique for making your web site better for your users.
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