FOREWORD
BY THE SERIES EDITOR
PREFACE
1. WHAT IS USABILITY AND WHAT IS USABILITY TESTING?
The Times Have Changed
What Is Usability?
What Is User-Centered Design?
What Is Usability Testing?
Traditional Approach to Usability Testing
Discount Usability Testing
Testing Models
Testing With a Lab
Testing Without a Lab
Field Testing
Cost-Justifying Usability
Costs of Testing
Costs of Not Testing
Benefits of Testing
Summary
Coming Up
Questions/Topics for Discussion
Exercises
References
2. OTHER METHODS FOR GETTING FEEDBACK ABOUT PRODUCT USABILITY
Feedback from Experts
Heuristic Evaluation
Cognitive Walkthroughs
Comparison of Methods
Feedback from Users
Focus Groups
Surveys and Interviews
Internal Sources of Customer Feedback
Summary
Coming Up
Questions/Topics for Discussion
Exercises
For Your Project
References
Appendix 2.1 Three-Fold Brochure
Appendix 2.2 Xerox Heuristic Evaluation Checklist
Appendix 2.3 Usability Inspection of Technical Communication
3. USER AND TASK ANALYSIS
Conceptual Design
Problems with Conceptual Models
User and Task Analysis
What You Can Learn from Users
What You Can Learn about Users' Tasks
and Goals
Planning a Site Visit
Asking Questions
Illustrations from Site Visits
Constraints on Doing Site Visits
What Happens After a Site Visit
How Users Learn
Short-Term and Long-Term Memory
Learning Styles
Adult Learners
Understanding Web Users
Web Sites and Older Users
Summary
Coming Up
Questions/Topics for Discussion
Exercises
For Your Project
References
4. ITERATIVE TESTING FOR USER-CENTERED DESIGN
Summative Evaluation vs. Formative Evaluation
Paper Prototyping
Creating and Testing Paper Prototypes
What Teams Can Learn from Paper Prototyping
Advantages and Disadvantages of Paper
Prototyping
Medium- and High-fidelity Prototyping
Summary
Coming Up
Questions/Topics for Discussion
Exercises
For Your Project
References
5. PLANNING FOR USABILITY TESTING
Establishing the Team
Team Structure and Size
Defining the Issues and Audience
How Much Time Do You Have for the Test?
How Much Money Do You Have for the Test?
Where Will Testing Be Done and Under What
Conditions?
Who Wants to Know the Results?
What Is Best Learned from Usability Testing
vs. Other Methods?
Putting Planning into Practice: Hotmail Example
Case Problem: Usability Test of Hotmail
SPSU Team Analysis
Setting Goals and Measurements
Goals vs. Concerns
Establishing the User Profile
Defining the Characteristics of a Subgroup
Selecting the Tasks to Test
Organizing Tasks
Determining How to Categorize the Results
Top-down Approach
Bottom-up Approach
Writing the Test Plan
How to Format the Test Plan
Summary
Coming Up
Questions/Topics for Discussion
Exercises
For Your Project
References
Appendix 5.1 Test Plan
6. PREPARING FOR USABILITY TESTING
Creating the Screening Questionnaire
Recruiting Participants
Recruiting Directly
Recruiting Indirectly Through Agencies
Scheduling Participants
Further Screening on Arrival
Creating Scenarios
Creating Post-Task and Post-Test Questionnaires
Defining Team Members' Roles
Facilitator/Briefer
Conducting the Walkthrough and the Pilot
Conducting the Walkthrough
Conducting the Pilot
Summary
Coming Up
Questions/Topics for Discussion
Exercises
For Your Project
References
Appendix 6.1 Hotmail Evaluation Team Checklists
7. CONDUCTING THE USABILITY TEST
A Typical Test Day
Greeting the Participant
Briefing the Participant
Pre-Test Briefing
"Thinking-Out-Loud" Procedure
Being an Unbiased Briefer/Debriefer
How (and When) to Intervene
Handling Help Calls
Handling Visitors
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Organizing the Data
Collating Data Into Findings
Using Top-Down or Bottom-Up Process
Measuring Quantitative Data
How to Measure Outlier Data
Interpreting Qualitative Data
Recording Positive Findings
Summary
Coming Up
Questions/Topics for Discussion
Exercises
For Your Project
References
Appendix 7.1 Events Report for Hotmail #6, User 1
8.
ANALYZING AND REPORTING RESULTS
Analyzing the Findings
Determining the Causes of Problems
Determining the Scope and Severity of
Problems
Making Recommendations
Reporting the Results
Preparing a Written Report
Preparing an Oral Report
Preparing a Video Highlights Tape
Using Multimedia
Summary
Coming Up
Questions/Topics for Discussion
Exercises
For Your Project
References
Appendix 8.1 Hotmail Usability Test Final Report
Appendix 8.2 Video Presentation Documentation
9.
WEB USABILITY
Problems with the Web: Does It Have to Be This Hard?
Putting the User First
Understanding Real Users' Needs
Design Principles for Web Architecture
Top-10 Web Design Mistakes
Elements of Page Layout
Usability Heuristics for the Web
Other Tools for Web Analysis
Tools without Human Intervention
Tools Used by Humans
Lab or Field Testing of Web Usability
Number of Participants Needed in Web Testing
Eye-Tracking Devices Used in Web Testing
Remote Web Testing
Putting All the Methods Together
Summary
In Closing
Questions/Topics for Discussion
Exercises
References
APPENDIX: MAKING IT WORK AS A TEAM
Why Work in Teams?
Dimensions of Group Dynamics
Stages of Group Formation
Roles in Groups
Nonverbal Communication
Conflict in Groups
Leadership in Groups
Being an Effective Leader
Managing Effective Meetings
Meeting Planning
Handling Problem Participants
Remote Meetings
Dynamics of Successful Teams
Summary
References
INDEX
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