www.userworks.com(301) 431-0500
Kristen Davis & Dana Douglas
User Focus 2012October 19, 2012
The Note-Taker's Perspective The Note-Taker's Perspective During Usability Testing: During Usability Testing:
Recognizing What's Important, What's Recognizing What's Important, What's NotNot
The Note-Taker's Perspective During Usability TestingUser Focus 2012Kristen Davis and Dana Douglas- UserWorks, Inc.
Note-Taking MisconceptionsNote-Taking Misconceptions
No preparation neededTake the notes, then figure out how to analyze and
summarize the dataAnyone can do itAttention to detail, fast typing are the key skillsA one-size-fits-all approach will work for all
practitioners and for all products under evaluation
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The Note-Taker's Perspective During Usability TestingUser Focus 2012Kristen Davis and Dana Douglas- UserWorks, Inc.
Why is Effective Note-Taking Why is Effective Note-Taking Important?Important?To improve the data analysis process by:• Capturing the appropriate data the first time
• Making analysis more efficient
• Increasing accuracy
• Identifying trends easily
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Exercise 1: Taking NotesExercise 1: Taking Notes
The Note-Taker's Perspective During Usability TestingUser Focus 2012Kristen Davis and Dana Douglas- UserWorks, Inc.
ExerciseExercise
Record your observations as you watch this video clip
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The Note-Taker's Perspective During Usability TestingUser Focus 2012Kristen Davis and Dana Douglas- UserWorks, Inc.
How Did You Do?How Did You Do?
Did you capture the key findings?Did you miss anything?
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Exercise 2: Know the StudyExercise 2: Know the Study
The Note-Taker's Perspective During Usability TestingUser Focus 2012Kristen Davis and Dana Douglas- UserWorks, Inc.
Practice ExercisePractice Exercise
Product: NIHSeniorHealth.gov websiteParticipant: Seniors who look for health information
onlineTask: Locate a specific piece of informationStudy Goals: • What navigation path do participants use when looking for specific
pieces of information?
• Do participants notice and use the pagination?
• Does the visual design treatment used in the left hand navigation clearly indicate the user’s location within a specific health topic?
Task Goals:• Are participants able to locate information on the 2nd page?
• Are the left hand navigation labels clear?
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The Note-Taker's Perspective During Usability TestingUser Focus 2012Kristen Davis and Dana Douglas- UserWorks, Inc.
ExerciseExercise
Record your observations while watching this video clip
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The Note-Taker's Perspective During Usability TestingUser Focus 2012Kristen Davis and Dana Douglas- UserWorks, Inc.
How Did You Do?How Did You Do?
Did you capture the key findings?Did you miss anything? Did you note:• If the participant noticed and used the pagination?
• If the participant was able to locate information on the 2nd page?
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The Note-Taker's Perspective During Usability TestingUser Focus 2012Kristen Davis and Dana Douglas- UserWorks, Inc.
Lessons Learned: Understand the Lessons Learned: Understand the GoalsGoalsGoals should be set prior to data collection in
order to:• Record appropriate data • Target the type of data that will be useful when reporting the
findings
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Exercise 3: Know the Exercise 3: Know the MetricsMetrics
The Note-Taker's Perspective During Usability TestingUser Focus 2012Kristen Davis and Dana Douglas- UserWorks, Inc.
Practice ExercisePractice Exercise
Product: Blood glucose meterParticipant: Person with diabetes who uses a meterTask: Change default settings in the meterRating scale for scoring task completion: • Completed with ease: Participant easily completed the task
• Completed with minor difficulty: Participant somewhat struggled to complete the task (e.g., attempted more than two paths)
• Completed with major difficulty: Participant significantly struggled to complete the task (e.g., attempted numerous paths and/or used customer service)
• Failed to complete: Participant was unable to complete the task
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The Note-Taker's Perspective During Usability TestingUser Focus 2012Kristen Davis and Dana Douglas- UserWorks, Inc.
ExerciseExercise
Record your observations while watching this video clip
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The Note-Taker's Perspective During Usability TestingUser Focus 2012Kristen Davis and Dana Douglas- UserWorks, Inc.
How Did You Do?How Did You Do?
What score did you give the participant? • Completed with ease: Participant easily completed the task
• Completed with minor difficulty: Participant somewhat struggled to complete the task (e.g., attempted more than two paths)
• Completed with major difficulty: Participant significantly struggled to complete the task (e.g., attempted numerous paths and/or used customer service)
• Failed to complete: Participant was unable to complete the task
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The Note-Taker's Perspective During Usability TestingUser Focus 2012Kristen Davis and Dana Douglas- UserWorks, Inc.
Lessons Learned: Lessons Learned: Define MetricsDefine Metrics
Defining the task completion rating scale prior to data collection allows: • Data to become less subjective
• Note-taker to record the scores in a systematic and consistent way
Some additional metrics: • Clickpath
• Time on task
• Shorthand codes Example: Number of times a participant clicked the
pagination
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SummarySummary
The Note-Taker's Perspective During Usability TestingUser Focus 2012Kristen Davis and Dana Douglas- UserWorks, Inc.
Keys to Success Keys to Success
Both moderator and note-taker need to know the product and the issues of interest
Be thoroughly familiar with whatever tool you are using
Plan for categorization and data analysis before data collection
Don’t try to capture comments verbatim; interpret what is noteworthy as you go
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The Note-Taker's Perspective During Usability TestingUser Focus 2012Kristen Davis and Dana Douglas- UserWorks, Inc.
Questions/Comments?Questions/Comments?
Kristen DavisUserWorks, Inc.
User Experience Specialist/ Note-Taker Extraordinaire
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Dana DouglasUserWorks, Inc.
User Experience Specialist
www.userworks.com(301) 431-0500