Week 5 Reading Response and links

I could easily relate to chapter 8 because of my most recent position as a graphic designer in a Communications department. I had to answer to a supervisor, who answered to a marketing director, who answered to the CEO, who answered to a board! We had one web guy and I recall that when we were revamping the website they had usability test done. A lot of discussions went on over each department’s territory. So I’ve seen the cowboy vs. the farmer scenario in practice! It’s true that folks tend to project their personal opinions to “everybody” or the “average user.”

The designer and developer comparison as the cultures of hype and craft hit home. Hype culture defined as upper management, marketing and business development; and craft, being designers and programmers. Invariably these groups do have different objectives. But the big picture is that they have the same goal, just different ways to get there. As I was reading I thought, “How do you fix this?” Getting over the myth that there’s an “average user” is a good start. All web users are unique and each use the web differently with different goals offset by experiences. Another answer is to do testing, which leads to chapter 9.

Chapter 9 is all about usability testing, not to be confused with focus groups. The difference between the two comes down to reactions. A focus group will have a group reaction and a usability testing will have individual reactions. Focus groups should be used before beginning the web design. Usability testing will tell you if people can actually use your site. The author recommends testing four people with each test, test early, test often, and keep it simple. Anyone can do the testing but someone with patience is recommended. Invite everyone involved to the test including management. Record what the test users are doing on the screen. Review the results immediately following the test and decide on what needs to be fixed and problem solving. I especially appreciated the usability script that the author includes at the end of the chapter. It helps me to understand and focus on how to do a test. And do it in a way that gets results.

Usability Testing Demystified
By Dana Chisnell
A List Apart, 10/6/09
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/usability-testing-demystified/

Why you only need to test with 5 users
By Jakob Nielsen
Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox, 3/19/2000
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20000319.html

Morae – usability testing and marketing research software
TechSmith, 8/15/11
http://www.techsmith.com/morae/uses.asp