Five-Minute Usability
Anyone who produces Web pages for a living knows that usability can mean the
difference between survival or oblivion. The same can also be true of learning
projects. There is no cheaper, easier, or more painless way to ensure that
you're successfully reaching your target user audience than by conducting
usability studies.
Usability testing can entail a formalized process of recruiting participants,
creating a prototype (or using a specified program version), monitoring performance
and videotaping the user as she tries to perform a specific task. In fact,
usability can get very fancy indeed, involving a custom lab with multiple
cameras and camera operators, tracking software, and multi-channel sound systems.
If you have the budget and bandwidth to perform formal usability testing,
great. If not, the good news is that you don't need to have a lot of money
to perform meaningful usability that can help steer your Web or learning project
in the right direction. Here's how:
- Test early and often. The time to start testing is as soon as you
have your first design ideas together. Early testing means that you won't
be spending expensive development dollars later correcting mistakes.
- Use a Prototype. This can be as simple as sketches on paper or
as extensive as a full-functionality HTML prototype. The simplest method
involves using Visio, graphics software or a pencil to mock up each screen
the user will see when performing her task. When designing a learning project,
MediaPro makes extensive use of prototypes to work out any problems before
extensive development takes place.
- Find Some Key Users. Who will be using your program? Novice users?
Experienced customers? Tech-savvy or tech-phobic individuals? Whoever they
may be, track down five or six people who closely match your user profile
and use those people as your test participants. However, note that it is
important to find users that are not involved in the project itself to make
sure you get unbiased opinions.
- Define Tasks. What is the user trying to accomplish with your e-learning
course or Web site? Determine what the key tasks are and select a few of
the critical ones. These are the tasks you'll have each usability participant
perform. Write out the tasks so the participant clearly knows exactly what
you expect her to do.
- Sit Back and Watch the User Perform. Give the participant the assigned
tasks. Ask her to "think out loud" as she performs each task.
Then stay out of it. Your job is to observe, so resist the temptation to
guide the user to the correct answer. If you're using a paper prototype,
you can act as a "human interface" to turn pages and give appropriate
"machine" feedback such as clicks and beeps as needed.
- Take Notes and Compile Data. Keep careful track of what you hear
and see. Report your data in a format that compares users on an apples-to-apples
basis. Keep in mind that you are most interested in measuring performance,
not preference, as usability expert Jakob Nielsen says. However, preference
shouldn't be totally ignored - if all your participants tell you they hate
the colors puce and vermilion on your site, you might want to consider adjusting
your color palette.
You should now have information that will help you make some objective decisions
about your functionality. If multiple users have problems in a particular
area, you will know that's a target for redesign. If the failure rate in accomplishing
the assigned task is high, you may need to go back to the drawing board. But
the sooner you perform usability, the less you will have invested in the project
- a good way to ensure that your project meets your delivery dates and comes
in on budget.
Submitted by the MediaPro Instructional Design Team
