You don’t need a dedicated usability lab to conduct a usability test. But if you or your organization conducts more than the occasional usability test, which it probably should (another topic in itself), you may want to consider setting up a dedicated usability lab. Having a dedicated space for testing is a hallmark of organizations
Facilitation is a valuable skill for measuring the user experience. A good facilitator ensures sessions run smoothly, make participants comfortable, and extract the right data for even the most difficult scenarios, stakeholders, or participants. Joe Dumas and Beth Loring wrote a great guidebook that is an essential read for anyone interested in facilitating a usability
There are many great books (some classics) on conducting usability tests. These books provide the blueprint for conducting an ideal usability test. One common theme these books present is that when conducting a test you are to act, as best as possible, as a neutral observer. Don’t lead users, don’t put words in their mouth
