Testing and Tweaking Peyton Corbi

Preparing for Testing Lots of boring minutiae to sort through Decide what will be tested and which tasks will be carried out during the test Distribute relevant guides to participants Rehearse and get feedback Print out all needed handouts Prepare observation room Bookmark relevant pages for the tests Clear browser history between each test

Testing Materials Monitor and Keyboard Mouse (simple and easy to use, no trackpads!) Microphone Outdated advice Commercial screen-sharing and broadcasting software

Your Roles as Facilitator Tour Guide Therapist Direct participants without figuring things out for them Clarification for the observers is okay Encourage participants to share thoughts out loud Neutrality, no judgment (Sample scripts are provided for every step of the process)

Make it a Spectator Sport! Observers As many as possible! Watch and suggest questions Make note of any usability problems Appoint a Hall Monitor Keep watch over observation setting Distribute handouts Remind observers to take notes and keep discussion on topic The Hall Monitor

Observation Setting Gather necessary materials Testing materials Projector and speakers Snacks!

Debriefing Leave with: Get the good pizza A list of usability problems encountered A list of problems to fix in the next month Get the good pizza Prioritize sorting out the most serious issues Frequency – how often do they occur? Severity – how much do they impede use?

Applying Tweaks “Try to do the least you can do” – redesigns are tempting, but require many more resources Fix problems as soon as possible, even if implementations aren’t “perfect” Removing something can be just as effective as adding something Common fixes: Wrong assumptions can add up during a user’s experience  Shape users’ first impressions effectively Subtle design choices are less obvious to the user than to the designer  Make designs less subtle

Constraints (Norman) Information in the world about what actions are possible Types Physical What is physically possible Can be used to force desired behavior (interlocks apply specifically to the order of a sequence of behaviors) Ex. specified Lego pieces, battery orientation Cultural/Social “Acceptable” behavior, can change over time Ex. light colors on motorcycle Semantic Meaning, can change over time Ex. rider facing forward Logical Ex. last remaining Lego piece Feedback (i.e. sounds) can help convey limitations in the possible actions a user can take

Sample Interface with Unclear Constraints http://www

Discussion Questions Is the model provided for carrying out tests an effective one? Does it need to be updated in any way? What changes would you make? Krug advises against full, from-the-ground-up redesigns in most circumstances, but acknowledges they may be necessary at times. How can you know when? “A good plan implemented today is better than a perfect plan implemented tomorrow.” Do you agree with this statement? Tying into the faucet case study from Chapter 4, dorm showers are mapped so that turning in one direction starts a stream of cold water and the knob must be turned continually to warm the water. How would you fix this design without adding another knob?