Usability Report: Errors and Tips Dr. Will Kurlinkus

General Errors and Tips Make sure you are describing to the client in each section WHY you designed the test in the way you did. Be flattering to the company—don’t insult. Make sure you are writing to a client. These sections tend to get long, make sure you use subheadings and bullets as much as possible: “Major Problem 1, Major Problem 2, etc.” Make sure you introduce each section and piece or each section. For instance, don’t just start the discussion section with solution 1. Rather, state: “Overall, we are not surprised at the results of these tests; we predicted 2 of the 3 major issues and the third was a product of scannability that can, in general, be improved across the website. All 3 issues significantly impacted the users’ experience, and by fixing them, you will improve their mood and increase the likelihood that they will join the team or donate money. We present the solutions in the order we feel they should be solved. “

Abstract Tell us what you did—tell us why you did it—tell us some results. Errors: Not being specific enough. Not mentioning actual results/takeaway. Remember that this is a client-facing document. That is, write it to the client not about the client. So, say “you”

Sample Abstract This abstract needs to be a little more specific in terms of what goals were tested and what solutions are offered.

Introduction Errors: Not specific enough. Not long enough. You need to include your user-persona, introduce who your test subjects are (here or your procedure), introduce what usability testing is, what think aloud protocol is, what the goals of the website are. Predict some common errors using web design theory. Basically, take all the best pieces from Assignment 4.1. Should be around a page. Show me you know the client’s website really well.

Procedure Summarize your usability test procedure/method: Concretely describe what you did and why you did it. Make the reader comfortable that you did things in the precise manner that they are paying for. The most important parts are your general description of your test: first we did this, then we did this, then we did this. Specific detailed explanation of your scenarios and your homemade method including why you did it in the way you did (take them from 4.2). You can shorten things but don’t leave anything unexplained. Bad: First we did a homepage tour First we did a homepage tour, in which we asked our subjects to tell us about x, y, z. Please include your full scripts and waiver forms from 4.2 as an appendix.

Results Six problems: 3 major 3 minor Tell me what the results were for each section of your test. What did you see. Both describe what happened but make sure you use quotes and images for each point you make about results. Prove to me that this actually happened. There’s no reason to run a usability test unless you show me some real data: quotes and screen caps. Organize by major and minor problems. Make sure your images are big enough and labeled in the proper 3 point method (Figure referenced in text, figure captioned, figure labeled). Errors: Not enough clear quotes and images illustrating the problem and what users said about it.

Example Major Error

Discussion Only on your 3 major problems—though you can make suggestions on your minor problems if your like. For each major problem: Analyze what caused the struggle, a quick fix solution (see Krug), and a long-term solution (provide a competitor example that has solved it in the way you suggest.) Give me a example of a problem with a quick fix and a long term solution. Be specific as possible about what you would like to see fixed— what will the solution look like?

Sample Discussion Piece JOIN INFORMATION As referenced in our procedures section, users could not find the information necessary to join the team. They expected to find the information and its absence made them frustrated. The image shown in the Results section of this report is where they expected to find the information. The easiest solution is to simply add another sentence or two that explains when the team meets, where the practice facility is, and what they should do when they arrive. This will solve the problem; however, it will decrease the already low scanability of the page which is not ideal. Longer term, we recommend moving away from paragraph form and presenting the information in scannable bullet points as done by another race team shown here. Not only will this alleviate the frustration felt by your users by providing them the information, they will be able to find it quickly and can spend more time acquainting themselves with the team and its history elsewhere on the site.

Conclusion Summarize the key takeaways of the report. Tell me the order you suggest for making the changes you suggest—companies often can’t fix everything at once. Suggest what you would do a further usability test on— are there other major tasks or users you didn’t test during this initial stage? Thank your cient.

Sample Conclusion Thank You We hope that you see the value in what we have to offer. The Mont is a well-known to many locals, but we want to make sure any new college students and people visiting know that this is a great place to eat and drink. The changes we propose to the website will create an easy-to-use website that shows off the atmosphere of The Mont, as well as your great food and drinks. Please let us know if you have any other questions and when we can get started on designing the new website for The Mont. I like what this team does with their summarizing what their changes will concretely improve—bringing in new college students, and visitors—and that they thank their client. Caution: This is not their entire conclusion! This is just a piece.