User testing

The 'Cheap, fast, good - pick two' rule is suspended for usability methodology - as argued by Jakob Nielsen.

Early, informal and low cost user testing has been advocated by Steve Krug for a long time - 'One morning once a month' Steve Krug

When?

As early as possible.

How often?

At least once a month - depending on the project

How

Planning:

• 5-6 users
• Set tasks
• promt, don't suggest
• observe, including design and dev reps

quick and dirty

5 Second Tests by Christine Perfetti

'Once the user views the entire page for 5 seconds, we remove it by either covering it up or switching to another window. Then, we ask them to write down everything they remember about the page. When they finish jotting down their recollections, we ask two useful questions to assess whether users accomplished the task. For the Donations page, we'd ask, "What is the most important information on this page?" and "How would you go about donating to the Red Cross?'

Reporting

• keep report short and USABLE
• grade your findings
• most important findings on page 2

Templates, Sample Docs

• evaluation instructions and evaluation reports by DialogDesign

!

Interviews, Reference

• I heart Steve Krug!
• Steve Krug interview about usability for DevSource 'Great Minds in Development'
• 'Why You Only Need to Test With 5 Users' by Jakob Nielsen
• Good interview about Usablity Testing Best Practices with Rolf Molich