che Usability?

I was watching an afternoon talk show the other day. OK, it was Oprah, but I was really sick and couldn’t change the channel.

She had a dude from 3M showing off their new Flag Highlighter and Pen. (In your best Seinfeld voice say, “It’s great because it’s a highlighter that holds flags!”)

Why am I talking about this?

Glad you asked. Oprah asks the 3M guy how they came up with the product. “Did someone tell you that they wanted this?”

The 3M guy responds, “No, we watched people use our products and thought this would be a great invention.”

3M was using a user-centered design process to create a product that people did not know they needed yet. Specifically, they conducted a task analysis.

(more…)

No, I’m not going to talk about the famous Bob and Doug McKenzie skit on SCTV, but the “Leave me hanging, eh?” comment was stuck in my head in a recent round of user testing I just completed.

I was testing a page of products and services that users found easy to use. They became frustrated, however, when they clicked into the documents that explained these products and services.

(more…)

Facilitating a user test is a balancing act between letting a participant fumble around until frustration sets in and prompting so many times that you help the user easily complete a task.
 
If you want to successfully run a user evaluation, here’s what to do when:

1. The participant asks questions during the task.
If the user is asking how to accomplish the task, reply “I’m not really sure. What do you think you should do?”

If the question is about the task itself — explain the task further.

2. The participant asks if they completed the task correctly.
Reply with “What do you think?” Remind the user that the purpose of the evaluation is not to judge what is right or wrong but rather to learn how participants use the web site.

3. The participant is stuck on a task.
Assure the participant that getting stuck is OK, as it highlights problems with the design.

4. The participant thinks they have done the “wrong” thing.
Assure the user that he or she cannot do anything “wrong” in a user evaluation. Remind the user that the goal is to learn how participants use the web site.

5. The participant completes the task correctly.
Simply ask the participant to move on to the next task. Do not say “Good,” “That’s correct,” or “Excellent,” as you are not testing the user but rather the web site.

6. The participant expresses frustration.
Find out what is causing the frustration — “What is frustrating you at this point in the task?”

7. The participant looks confused.
Again, explore the root of the confusion — “I can see that you are confused. What part of the task is causing the confusion?”

8. The participant does the wrong thing but thinks he or she completed the task correctly.
Simply continue with the test.

9. The participant gives you a design recommendation.
Acknowledge the recommendation and refocus the user’s attention on completing the task.

10. The participant gives up.
Assure the user that it is OK to give up, as he or she is helping find design flaws in the web site’s design.