Abstract:

This tutorial offers participants tips and techniques on conducting a usability test from planning to reporting. The tutorial includes multiple breakout sessions where participants draft the test plan, conduct the test, and discuss ways to share their results and adapt these strategies into their own organizations. Overall, participants will gain the skills and confidence required to improve their companies' products and bottom lines.

Learning objectives

By attending this session, new participants will gain the hands-on experience necessary to conduct a full-scale usability test. The tutorial includes multiple breakout sessions with participants drafting the test plan, conducting the test, and discussing ways to adapt these strategies into their own organizations. Once the usability study is completed, the group will discuss successes and areas for improvement. The key will be sharing as many tips and techniques from as many different perspectives as possible.

How tutorial will be conducted:

We will use brainstorming and lecturing techniques to share tips for convincing management to spend the time and the money to conduct a low-cost, formal usability test. We will show data on reducing product costs by eliminating potential showstoppers during the development cycle and reveal how the bottom line will improve as a result. Participants also gain the hands-on experience necessary to conduct a full-scale usability test.

Additionally, organizations wanting to validate their testing methodology will learn tips and techniques to create the initial design, setup, implementation, and follow-up of full-scale usability testing. Overall, participants will gain the skills and confidence required to improve their companies’ products and bottom lines.

We know that there are articles and some books available that describe the usability testing techniques we will discuss. There will also be other sessions that will talk in more depth about a number of components of this tutorial. But it is a very rare opportunity that participants have the chance to learn by walking through a complete usability test from conception to completion, with the opportunity to shape the nature of that study throughout. This tutorial will invite participants to discuss and relate their own experiences each step of the way. Attendees will leave the tutorial at the end of the day with a rich experience and some very concrete ideas about what to do when they return to their organizations to:

• Convince management to allow them to integrate usability testing into product design
• Be able to plan and conduct an effective usability study
• Design and present the user findings to the product team in a way that has impact and will ensure required improvements are made.

Detailed description of material covered by tutorial and a schedule of events with time allocation

Introduction to the participants and the topic (90 minutes)

• Tutorial leaders introduce overall topic
• Participants introduce themselves
• Brainstorming/ice breaking exercise
• PowerPoint introduction to Usability Case Study
• Lecture/discussion on types of usability studies, costs, schedules, benefits of different approaches.

Creating a Usability plan (60 minutes)

• Lecture/discussion: intro to the Usability Plan, necessary components, process
• Tutorial with 4 subgroups of participants. Each subgroup will design one section of the usability plan.

Planning a Usability test (60 minutes)

• Lecture/discussion on Usability Testing Protocol: how to do what they’re about to do; how to screen subjects, introduce test, record findings, debrief etc.
• Second set of subgroups is formed to turn plan into reality. Roles are assigned for conducting the usability test, and like roles are grouped together to form subgroups.

Conducting a Usability test (60 minutes)

• Groups conduct the usability test

Usability wrap-up and discussion (60 minutes)

• Group wrap-up/post mortem discussion on what usability techniques worked and what we could improve upon the next time. Includes discussion on how these techniques can be adapted into participants’ own organizations.
• Lecture/discussion of best ways of presenting usability findings (reports, presentations, videotape, shared testing experience, executive reports).

Presenting the results and next steps (30 minutes)

• Combined presentation and discussion on how to convince management to integrate usability into the product development lifecycle
• Questions and comments

Instructors' Biographies

Diana Wiffen and Emily Christofides Quarry Integrated Communications is an award-winning brand experience agency headquartered in southwestern Ontario, with satellite offices in Dallas, Memphis and Kansas City. As senior members of Quarry’s Interaction Design Group, Diana and Emily use their extensive usability, interface design and web assessment experience to help clients integrate their brand with their digital applications using innovative techniques including persona development, usability and brand experience assessments. Some of our clients include FedEx, Microsoft, Sprint PCS, MKS, HP and MDS Sciex.