1. Use Usability Testing and Enhance your Documentation with Feedback © STC 2016 #stc16 Use Usability Testing

2. Hello! Dave Bachmann dbachmann@kcura.com Mandy Morgan mmorgan@kcura.com © STC 2016 #stc16 Use Usability Testing

3. Agenda The rationale History of usability testing Getting started The usability test process at kCura What we learned © STC 2016 #stc16 Use Usability Testing

4. Documentation at kCura  We conduct usability testing on our own documentation set.  Live documentation site, not behind a firewall.  HTML5 output  MadCap Flare

5. Rationale for usability testing © STC 2016 #stc16 Use Usability Testing

8. A brief history © STC 2016 #stc16 Use Usability Testing

9. Implementing Why did we bring usability testing in-house at kCura? © STC 2016 #stc16 Use Usability Testing

12. Getting started Kicked off a site-wide redesign Closer to the client experience Support tickets © STC 2016 #stc16 Use Usability Testing

14. The usability test Where do you begin? © STC 2016 #stc16 Use Usability Testing

15. Looking to sources Don't Make Me Think!: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability Handbook of usability testing Documentation usability - Tom Johnson Rocket Surgery Made Easy © STC 2016 #stc16 Use Usability Testing

16. Determining tests Navigation Comprehensibility Color-scheme Organization © STC 2016 #stc16 Use Usability Testing

17. Writing usability tests Goal + scenario + task © STC 2016 #stc16 Use Usability Testing

18. Writing a goal © STC 2016 #stc16 Use Usability Testing

19. Writing a scenario © STC 2016 #stc16 Use Usability Testing

20. Writing the usability test © STC 2016 #stc16 Use Usability Testing

21. Gaining buy-in Costs Time Conducting tests © STC 2016 #stc16 Use Usability Testing

22. Insight Feedback Dedication Standards Gaining buy-in © STC 2016 #stc16 Use Usability Testing

23. Audience analysis Creating personas Not enough time Not valuable Receiving push back © STC 2016 #stc16 Use Usability Testing

24. Other teams Internal stakeholders Volunteers Gathering internal participants © STC 2016 #stc16 Use Usability Testing

25. Customer portal Online community Customer service Sales Friends/family Gathering external participants © STC 2016 #stc16 Use Usability Testing

26. Reaching out What to expect Length of test Preparation, if any Availability © STC 2016 #stc16 Use Usability Testing

27. Budgeting time for testing Release cycles Agile Industry © STC 2016 #stc16 Use Usability Testing

28. Conducting the test Participant User or internal stakeholder who runs through scenarios and has some understanding of the content. Facilitator The main participant who sets up and runs the test, and asks and answers questions. Observer The fly-on-the-wall who takes notes, tracks tasks, and records action items. © STC 2016 #stc16 Use Usability Testing

29. Dealing with challenges Apathy Distractions Useless tests © STC 2016 #stc16 Use Usability Testing

31. Fielding feedback Rant sessions Complacency No feedback Gathering innovations © STC 2016 #stc16 Use Usability Testing

32. Fielding feedback “This could be slightly more clear” © STC 2016 #stc16 Use Usability Testing

33. Fielding feedback “It makes no sense for the steps for configuring agents to appear before the steps for setting up a server. Nobody would ever do this in the order that you’ve documented it. You should switch these groups of steps.” © STC 2016 #stc16 Use Usability Testing

34. Fielding feedback “These filter examples are utterly useless.” © STC 2016 #stc16 Use Usability Testing

35. Fielding feedback “At this point, I’d probably just call support for help.” © STC 2016 #stc16 Use Usability Testing

36. Using the results Incorporating feedback Getting to action items Enhancing the content © STC 2016 #stc16 Use Usability Testing

37. Making your own methodology © STC 2016 #stc16 Use Usability Testing

38. Thanks! Any questions? © STC 2016 #stc16 Use Usability Testing