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There are a lot of ways to display multipoint rating scales by varying the number of points (e.g., 5, 7, 11) and by labeling or not labeling those points. There’s variety not only in how rating scales are displayed but also in how you score the responses. Two typical scoring methods we discussed earlier are reporting the raw mean of responses and using top-box scoring. We’ve also shown

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One of the primary goals of measuring the user experience is to see whether design efforts actually make a quantifiable difference over time. A regular benchmark study is a great way to institutionalize the idea of quantifiable differences. Benchmarks are most effective when done at regular intervals (e.g., quarterly or yearly) or after significant design or feature changes. A UX benchmark is something akin to

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There is plenty of debate about the best way to quantify attitudes and experiences with rating scales. And among those debates, perhaps the most popular question is the “right” number of response options to use for rating scales. For example, is an eleven-point scale too difficult for people to understand? Is a three-point scale insufficient for capturing extreme attitudes? Most research on this topic shows

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Driving down the road while only looking in the rearview mirror ... that gives you a good idea of where you’ve been, but unless the road behind you is exactly like the one in front of you, you may run into some obstacles, to put it mildly. Safe and effective driving means looking forward and backward. And the same applies to using metrics in business

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UX research and UX measurement can be seen as an extension of experimental design. At the heart of experimental design lie variables. Earlier we wrote about different kinds of variables. In short, dependent variables are what you get (outcomes), independent variables are what you set, and extraneous variables are what you can’t forget (to account for). When you measure a user experience using metrics—for example,

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Every year, it seems, there’s a new buzz word or a hot new method that comes up in UX research and product development: Agile, Lean, and Jobs to be Done are just a few. Design Thinking is a concept that’s received a lot of attention lately. But well before Design Thinking became part of the UX lexicon, there was User-Centered Design (UCD). What are these

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There’s a lot of conventional wisdom floating around the Internet about rating scales. What you should and shouldn’t do. Best practices for points, labels, and formats. It can be hard to differentiate between science-backed conclusions and just practitioner preferences. In this article, we’ll answer some of the more common questions that come up about rating scales, examine claims by reviewing the literature, and summarize the

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Software dominates our professional and personal lives. A product's usability, in addition to its features and capabilities, is an important influence on how likely users are to adopt new technology and recommend the software. Between 30 and 60% of the variation in Net Promoter Scores is determined by a product's usability. Customers tend to recommend products they have positive experiences with. Similarly, bad experiences lead customers

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Despite the attention consumer-based mobile apps, websites, and software get, a lot of the world depends on business software. Business software supports core functions for organizations such as productivity tracking, communication, accounting, and sales. Several products also have a fair amount of crossover between business and consumer usage. Along with their features and capabilities, the user experience of software is a key determinant of how

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If you’ve had a meeting recently it was probably a virtual meeting. The use of online meeting software with integrated video and screen sharing capabilities, such as Zoom and Google Hangouts, has been growing for years. To say the usage has now skyrocketed is probably an understatement. Online meetings are ubiquitous in business and are now common in education and personal use. Children attend classes

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