Usability Testing Flashcards

1
Q

A user test with paper prototyping is an example of a:

a. Down the hall-way usability test
b. Summative Usability Test
c. Low-fidelity Usability Test

A

C. Low-fidelity Usability Test

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2
Q

Is usability testing largely a “qualitative or quantitative” research technique?

A

Qualitative

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3
Q

What are some examples of quantitative observable data?

A

Time on Task, Success/failure rates, Effort e.g. # of clicks/perception of progress

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4
Q

What are some examples of qualitative observable data?

A

Stress responses, Subjective Satisfaction, Perceived effort or difficulty

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5
Q

Why metrics?

A

Metrics is really important because usability testing is not just for you to help refine your design, but it’s also a tool to influence the rest of your team members.

If you can show, you know, 60% of users were struggling with this, or that this feature has a 10% success rate, that can be very powerful – as opposed to saying, “Oh, the users didn’t like it. The users found it difficult.” It’s less believable than if you can actually show the metrics, so I think it helps ground teams in the reality around how users will probably use a design

“Okay, well, let’s look at the stats.” And they also basically turn conversations into fact-based – as opposed to opinion-based – conversations. Again, if people are arguing over a design, you can sort of say, “Well, let’s look at the data; let’s look at how users did.” So, what are we measuring? We’re measuring behavior, opinions and the actual data.

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6
Q

Why shouldn’t you ask your testers “Do you like this design”?

A

If you ask someone what they like, they’re likely to tell you what they like or what they “think” they like.

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7
Q

What users think and what they do are…

A

two different things

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8
Q

What are we measuring in usability tests?

A
  1. Behavior: Task performance, speed, efficiency, goal fulfillment, expectation matching
  2. Opinions: How it looks, Thoughts & opinions
  3. Data: Visitors, Pages, Documents
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9
Q

What are we looking for when we’re observing user testers?

A

We’re observing if a user has not seen something; see if a user is going in the wrong direction; see if the user is thinking it’s correct when it isn’t correct, or maybe the user is missing a rule.

Not seeing something, Going in the wrong direction, Thinking it’s correct when it isn’t, Missing a “rule”

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10
Q

What is the think-aloud protocol?

A

When you ask the user to think aloud to tell you what they’re thinking and feeling.

  • Test the interface not the user
  • Ask them to externalize thoughts/feelings
  • Verify researcher mental model
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11
Q

According to Frank Spillers, why is time on task not always the best measure of usability?

a. It’s difficult to measure precisely when a user starts performing a task.
b. How fast a task should be done depends on the context.
c. It is not always easy to divide the users’ actions into tasks.

A

b. How fast a task should be done depends on the context.

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12
Q

What are the top 3 metrics according to Frank Spillers?

A
  1. Success rate - do they get the task?
    eg.) 7/10 users completed the task aka “Got it right”
  2. Failure rate - do they not get it?
    eg.) 3/10 users committed errors
  3. Partial Success - do they get part of it?
    6/10 users had confusions
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13
Q

How many users should you test with?

A
  • You only need 8-15 people for most (Formative) tests. Summative (statistical) tests 20-50+
  • The number depends on your user types
  • User testing is Qualitative Research (the research rules are different)
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14
Q

If you test with 5 users, that’s called…

A

Agile test

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15
Q

weekly usability test

A

Lean UX, agile UX, then do 3 to 5 users one week.. 3 to 5 the next week, 3 to 5 the next week.
and by the end of the month, you have a nice sample of about 15-20 users.

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16
Q

When you’re doing more statistical testing, you will want to use a higher sample size of…

A

15 to 20 users

even all the way up to 50 or 100 users

17
Q

What does Ethnographic mean?

A

It means the study of people.

18
Q

What does study of people mean in ethnographic?

A

Means you go out to “their” environment with a field study.

19
Q

What should you prepare for in a test plan?

A
  1. Decide what areas to concentrate on
  2. Determine potential usability issues
  3. Write a Test plan
  4. Determine what tasks will be tested (~12)
20
Q

What should your test plan include?

A
  1. Objective
  2. Test Task(scenario)
  3. End state(answer)
  4. Assets needed (for managing time up to the test. What’s needed for you to prepare for the test)
21
Q

When you create your test plan, run your scenarios from ____ to ____.

A

Easy to difficult.

The first task should be an orientation task.

Put difficult tasks in the middle of the Test Plan

*After each user test, ask the user if the tasks were realistic- this will help give you corrective feedback. Writing good test tasks takes time and practice.

22
Q

When is a good time to ask test participants for their subjective opinions on the product they are testing?

a. Pre-test
b. During test
c. Post-test

A

c. Post-test

23
Q

You are running a usability test and your test participant has been trying to solve a task for more than 5 minutes. Finally, the participant gives up and asks you how to solve the task. According to Frank Spillers, you should:

a. Tell the participant what the correct solution is.
b. Ask the user to move on to the next task or encourage him/her to keep trying.
c. Give the participant a simple hint and encourage him/her to keep trying.

A

b. Ask the user to move on to the next task or encourage him/her to keep trying.