1. Rob Gleasure R.Gleasure@ucc.ie www.robgleasure.com
IS3320 Developing and Using Management Information Systems Lecture 18: Usability Testing
Rob Gleasure

2. IS3320
Today’s lecture
Usability
Testing

3. Usability Usability has been broken down into several components
Learnability
Usefulness (achieving goals)
Satisfaction
Learning
Achieving goals
Satisfaction

4. Usability Dense, dense topic…
Usability strategies can be roughly considered as targeting either
Conceptual models
How can designers create a useful abstraction for users quickly and efficiently
Ergonomics
How can designers control the physical demands of users

5. Usability
Conceptual-model approaches can be considered according to three main types
Metaphor-based design
Aligning to conceptual models of existing real-world systems with which users have experience
Idiom-based design
Aligning to conceptual models of systems of the same type with which users have experience
Context-based design
Aligning to conceptual models that users already possess of the design context

6. Learnability

7. Usability
These strategies help learnability by allowing users a head start in understanding a system
They help usefulness by allowing users to infer functionalities from this understanding
They help satisfaction by creating expectations that are more likely to be met

8. 7 Usability Testing Truths (Krug 2006)
If you want a great system you have to test
Testing one user is 100% better than testing none
Testing one user early in the project is better then testing 50 near the end
The importance of recruiting representative users is overrated
The point of testing is not to prove or disprove something, its to inform your judgement
Testing is an iterative process
Nothing beats a live audience reaction
Testing is essential if we want to improve usability

9. Usability Testing and Prototypes
Some testing will be done on the features of the work-in-progress system itself (tracer bullets), however other testing can be done with prototypes
Prototypes consist of anything from paper based representations to fully functional websites
It allows stakeholders to interact with an envisioned product, gain experience in using it and explore uses for it
Types of Prototyping
Low-Fidelity Prototyping
High-Fidelity Prototyping

10. Low-Fidelity example
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11. Low-Fidelity example
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12. Low-Fidelity example
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13. Low-Fidelity example
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14. Types of Low-Fidelity Usability Prototypes
Storyboarding
Sketching
Prototyping with Index Cards

15. Advantages of Low-fidelity
They are simple to make
They are cheap
They can be quick to produce
They are also easy to modify quickly to incorporate changes on the fly and retest,
i.e. “Is this what you mean?”
Minimal resistance to change

16. Disadvantages Limited error checking Navigational limitations
Some users might find it difficult to conceptualise
Very little UX feedback

17. High-Fidelity Prototyping
Here materials that will be used in the final product are used
The prototype will be designed to resemble the final product as closely as possible

18. Advantages
Complete functionality, so people might understand it better
Fully interactive
Look and feel of the final product

19. Disadvantages Difficult to develop Time-consuming to create
Not effective for requirements gathering

20. Testing the complete lifecycle
For learnability
Test the system with new users repeatedly – forgetting to reset with new users from time to time is very common and leads to test-users behaving more like developers than true representative users
For usability
Try and form a hierarchical view of uses. The majority of features never get used, so make sure the priority items are right before moving on
For satisfaction
Use beta-tests to allow for more prolonged usage – this lets you gauge users’ response over long periods of time and in less artificial environments (e.g. white coat syndrome)

21. Individual-level or group testing?
A common means of testing is the ‘focus group’
Tendency to use these focus groups to trial ideas – not always best use of time and effort
Useful creative technique is the ‘Plus/Delta’ approach
Two columns
What do you like about this?
What changes would make it better?

22. Issues with Testing
Client involvement is a tricky balancing act. You absolutely need their feedback, however too much feedback can cause a number of problems:
Schedule bottleneck - progress is stifled waiting for clients to provide feedback
Scope creep - the client keeps thinking of new requirements, the addition of which keeps adding massive delays. Alternatively they are not added, perhaps leaving the client feeling ignored…

23. Issues with Testing (continued)
Feedback fever - the client wants to make every decision, without necessarily understanding the technical repercussions
Conflicting feedback - “Jim from Marketing wanted to get involved in this project, so had a look over the complete site and wonders if it would be better as an iPhone app?”

24. Want to read more?
Norman, D. (2002). The Design of Everyday Things, Basic Books
Cooper, A. (2007). About Face 3: The Essentials of Interaction Design
Krug, S. (2005). Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability, New Riders