Analyse Context of Use

Who are the intended offsiteuser and what are their offsitetask? (Why will they use the system? What is their experience and expertise?) What are the offsitetechnical and offsiteenvironmental constraints? (What types of hardware will be used in what organisational, technical and physical environments?)

UsabilityNet (2006). Articles>Usability>Methods>Contextual Inquiry

QUIS: The Questionnaire for User Interaction Satisfaction

Subjective evaluation is an important component in the evaluation of workstation usability. We have developed and standardized a general user evaluation instrument for interactive computer systems. The methods of psychological test construction were applied in order to ensure proper construct and empirical validity of the items and to assess their reliability. A hierarchical approach was taken in which overall usability was divided into subcomponents which constituted independent psychometric scales. For example, subcomponents include character readability, usefulness of online help, and meaningfulness of error messages. Evaluation on these scales is assessed by user ratings of specific system attributes such as character definition, contrast, font, and spacing for the scale of character readability.

University of Maryland. Articles>Usability>Methods>Surveys

Software Usability Measurement Inventory

The Software Usability Measurement Inventory is a rigorously tested and proven method of measuring software quality from the end user's point of view. SUMI is a consistent method for assessing the quality of use of a software product or prototype, and can assist with the detection of usability flaws before a product is shipped. It is backed by an extensive reference database embedded in an effective analysis and report generation tool.

University College Cork. Resources>Usability>Software>Methods

Gorilla Usability

Gorilla usability is about getting out from behind the video camera, the reports, the stats and all the guru commandments and actually getting to know your users.

Robinson, D. Keith. evolt (2002). Articles>Usability>Methods>Contextual Inquiry

When to Use Which User Experience Research Methods

Modern day user experience research methods can now answer a wide range of questions. Knowing when to use each method can be understood by mapping them in 3 key dimensions and across typical product development phases.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2008). Articles>User Experience>Usability>Methods

The Mid-Point on a Rating Scale: Is it Desirable?    

This study examined the effect on survey results of having no neutral or mid-point on a Likert scale. Participants in a face-to-face omnibus survey were shown either a five point (with mid -point) or four point (no mid-point) Likert scale of importance on a card and asked to state their opinion about the importance of product labelling (additives, ingredients etc.) on packaged foods. This research provides some evidence that social desirability bias, arising from respondents' desires to please the interviewer or appear helpful or not be seen to give what they perceive to be a socially unacceptable answer, can be minimised by eliminating the mid-point ('neither... nor', uncertain etc.) category from Likert scales. There is also some evidence that the presence or absence of a mid-point on an importance scale produces distortions in the results obtained.

Garland, Ron. Marketing Bulletin (1991). Articles>Research>Methods>Surveys

Methods and Results of an Accreditation-Driven Writing Assessment in a Business College    

This article describes a pilot effort for an accreditation-driven writing assessment in a business college, detailing the pilot's logistics and methods. Supported by rubric software and a philosophy of "real readers, real documents," the assessment was piloted in summer 2006 with five evaluators who were English instructors and four who worked or taught in business environments. The nine evaluators were each given 10 reports that were drawn from a sample of 50 reports completed in a writing-intensive course. They created 88 individual assessments using a 10-category rubric. While the overarching purpose of the pilot was to determine the effectiveness of the methods used, the results may also be of interest to those involved with the assessment of writing.

Warnock, Scott. Journal of Business and Technical Communication (2009). Articles>Education>Assessment>Methods

User Interviews - Analysis Simplified

You’ve conducted your user interviews, but now you need to make sense of all that information you’ve gathered. These best practice tips will help you analyse the results.

Gray, Alistair. Webcredible (2009). Articles>Usability>Interviewing>Methods

Quick Turnaround Usability Testing, Part II

The beauty of the whiteboard method is that your report becomes simply a summary of what you have already written on the whiteboard, including completion metrics, findings, and recommendations that have been vetted by key stakeholders.

Nuschke, Paul. Boxes and Arrows (2008). Articles>Usability>Testing>Methods

Design Research Methods for Experience Design

There is a trend among some in the UX community to take the U out of UX and refer to our discipline simply as experience design. One reason for this change in terminology is that it lets us talk about a specific target audience in terms that resonate with business stakeholders more than the generic term user—for example, customer experience, patient experience, or member experience. The other reason for using the term experience design rather than user experience design is that it recognizes the fact that most customer interactions are multifaceted and complex and include all aspects of a customer’s interaction with a company or other organizational entity, including its people, services, and products.

Hawley, Michael. UXmatters (2009). Articles>User Experience>Research>Methods

The Role of Critical Thinking in Effective Decision Making  

Critical thinking is the art of raising what is subconscious in our reasoning to the level of conscious recognition. It is the art of taking control of our thinking processes so as to understand the pathway and inputs that our thinking employs.

Egan, Brian Denis. Global Knowledge (2006). Articles>Management>Methods

Real or Imaginary: The Effectiveness of Using Personas in Product Design  

The use of personas as a method for communicating user requirements in collaborative design environments is well established. However, very little research has been conducted to quantify the benefits of using this technique. The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of using personas. An experiment was conducted over a period of 5 weeks using students from NCAD. The results showed that, through using personas, designs with superior usability characteristics were produced. They also indicate that using personas provides a significant advantage during the research and conceptualisation stages of the design process (supporting previously unfounded claims). The study also investigated the effects of using different presentation methods to present personas and concluded that photographs worked better than illustrations, and that visual storyboards were more effective in presenting task scenarios than text only versions.

Long, Frank. Frontend Infocentre (2009). Articles>User Centered Design>Methods>Personas

The Benefits of Viewing User Tests

The benefits of user testing have long been established. It is still important however to try and maximise these benefits. One way in which this can be done is by viewing the user test yourself.

Frontend Infocentre (2009). Articles>Usability>Testing>Methods

Focus Groups - Advantages and Limitations

Focus groups are a great way to collect information from several people very quickly and cost effectively. They are mainly used to gauge people’s reactions and feelings to items, however when used appropriately they can also be used as part of user requirements gathering.

Frontend Infocentre (2009). Articles>Usability>Methods>Focus Groups

Introduction to User Centred Design Process

The key principal of UCD is integrating users that represent the profiles of the target user group/s into the development process. Typically, friends, family and (most definitely) colleagues are not representative of the target user base! However, they’re nearly always free with advice. But the validity of this advice is often questionable. In order to integrate unbiased user feedback into the process the following are key steps in a UCD process.

Frontend Infocentre (2009). Articles>User Centered Design>Methods

Components, Patterns, and Frameworks! Oh My!

In our research, we've found that teams that build out a re-use strategy see tangible benefits: They are more likely to get a completed design sooner, with all the little nuances and details that make for a great experience. Their designs are more likely to meet users expectations by behaving consistently across the entire functionality. Plus, the teams iterate faster (always a good thing), giving them a chance to play with the design while it's still malleable.

Spool, Jared M. User Interface Engineering (2009). Articles>Project Management>Collaboration>Methods

Hunkering: Putting Disorientation into the Design Process

After talking to several dozen craftspeople about why they hunker, we think we have a pretty good idea what's happening here. As they're building their design, they have a solid picture in their mind of what they are creating. However, when they put the physical pieces into the basic form, things aren't quite right. In essence, it's disorienting. Once the craftsperson has disoriented themself, they go through a process of reconciliation. Either the work-in-progress needs correction or the design in their head needs adjustment.

Spool, Jared M. User Interface Engineering (2009). Articles>Project Management>Methods

Create Effective Project Milestone Sheets

The project milestone sheet is an incredibly important document for freelancers and their clients. It defines all the most important tasks, who is assigned to them, and when they are due. In other words, it serves as the map for your entire work process.

Roque, Celine. Web Worker Daily (2009). Articles>Project Management>Planning>Methods

Extremely Rapid Usability Testing  

The trade show booth on the exhibit floor of a conference is traditionally used for company representatives to sell their products and services. However, the trade booth environment also creates an opportunity, for it can give the development team easy access to many varied participants for usability testing. The question is can we adapt usability testing methods to work in such an environment? Extremely rapid usability testing (ERUT) does just this, where we deploy a combination of questionnaires, interviews, storyboarding, co-discovery, and usability testing in a trade show booth environment. We illustrate ERUT in actual use during a busy photographic trade show. It proved effective for actively gathering real-world user feedback in a rapid paced environment where time is of the essence.

Pawson, Mark and Saul Greenberg. Journal of Usability Studies (2009). Articles>Usability>Testing>Methods

Why "How Many Users" is Just the Wrong Question

Every day in offices around the world usability professionals ask and are asked this question: How many users do we need for our usability test? Its an important question. We want to find most of and the most severe problems. So, we need to test enough people. But usability testing is so expensive, and the cost of testing increases with each participant. So, we don't want to test too many, either.

Straub, Kathleen. UI Design Newsletter (2007). Articles>Usability>Testing>Methods

Getting the Right Design and the Design Right: Testing Many Is Better Than One  

We present a study comparing usability testing of a single interface versus three functionally equivalent but stylistically distinct designs. We found that when presented with a single design, users give significantly higher ratings and were more reluctant to criticize than when presented with the same design in a group of three. Our results imply that by presenting users with alternative design solutions, subjective ratings are less prone to inflation and give rise to more and stronger criticisms when appropriate. Contrary to our expectations, our results also suggest that usability testing by itself, even when multiple designs are presented, is not an effective vehicle for soliciting constructive suggestions about how to improve the design from end users. It is a means to identify problems, not provide solutions.

Tohidi, Maryam, William Buxton, Ronald Baecker and Abigail Sellen. CHI 2006 Proceedings (2006). Articles>Usability>Testing>Methods

Caution: Stereotypes Under Construction

Now that I have your attention, I’ll tell you up front that what Janea follows is not a rant. It’s not even a statement for or against Triplett political correctness. It’s a caution–words of warning about the creation of personas and the practice of user profiling. Even if one calls it the development of an archetype or ideal type, it is still a stereotype.

Triplett, Janea. Journal of HCI Vistas (2007). Articles>User Centered Design>Methods>Personas

Ten Steps to Personas

Having worked with personas before the method ever came to be known as personas there are, from my research and practical experience, three important areas that have to be considered: the data material, engagement in the personas descriptions, and buy-in from the organization which is part of the development process whether it is redesign or a development from scratch. This is the rationale behind my development of 10 steps to personas, an attempt to cover the entire process from initial data gathering to ongoing development.

Nielsen, Lene. Journal of HCI Vistas (2007). Articles>User Centered Design>Methods>Personas

What’s My Persona? Developing a Deep and Dimensioned Character

I believe designers gather data to understand the personas that represent the users for whom they are designing a user interface. This is quite similar to the way actors must develop an understanding of their characters. So, developing their character-building and storytelling skills can help designers—just as it does actors.

Lepore, Traci. UXmatters (2009). Articles>User Centered Design>Methods>Personas

Card Sorting: Pushing Users Beyond Terminology Matches

It's easy to bias study participants, whether in user testing or in card sorting, if they focus on matching stimulus words instead of working on the underlying problem.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2009). Articles>User Centered Design>Methods>Card Sorting