“How many participants should you run in a usability study?” How many times have you heard that question? How many different answers have you heard? After you sift through the non-helpful ones, probably the most common answer you’ve heard is five. You might have also heard that these “magic 5” users can uncover 85% of
In an earlier article, we demonstrated how it’s completely permissible from a statistical perspective to report numbers when studies have very small sample sizes (fewer than ten people). When you use numbers, you can present them as raw numbers, fractions, or percentages. You can present them in a report, on a train, or on a
The System Usability Scale (SUS) is one of the oldest standardized UX questionnaires. John Brooke is now retired; should the questionnaire he developed almost 40 years ago accompany him on the beach with a piña colada? After all, the SUS was developed when there were green-screen computer monitors. How can it possibly apply to mobile
All of us at MeasuringU® wish you a Happy New Year! In 2023, we posted 49 articles and continued to add features to our MUiQ® UX testing platform to make it even easier to develop studies and analyze results. We hosted our eleventh UX Measurement Bootcamp, again as a blended virtual event with a combination
“Don’t include numbers when reporting the results of small-sample research studies!” “If you must, definitely don’t use percentages!” “And of course, don’t even think about using statistics!” We regularly hear variations of this advice from well-intentioned researchers, often senior ones. In 2005, we encountered this debate among UX professionals when we participated in a workshop
Planning your next vacation can be both exciting and overwhelming. Most travelers do their research and make reservations for flights, activities, and accommodations online. In particular, hotel websites offer the convenience of browsing, comparing, and booking hotels from anywhere. Hotel bookings and revenue have recovered from the depths of the pandemic. Yet with all this
In math class, we spend a lot of time learning fractions because they are so important in everyday life (e.g., budgeting, purchasing at the grocery store). Fractions are also used extensively in UX research (e.g., the fundamental completion rate is a fraction), typically expressed as percentages or proportions. Unfortunately, fractions are also hard to learn,
In Think Aloud (TA) testing, participants speak their thoughts while attempting tasks. The process is meant to help researchers identify usability problems and potential fixes. Indeed, in an earlier analysis, we found an increase in problem discovery. Our evaluation of 153 videos, split between TA and non-TA, revealed that evaluators uncovered 36–50% more problems with
One of the most popular UX research methods is Think Aloud (TA) usability testing. In TA testing, participants speak their thoughts while attempting tasks. The process helps researchers identify usability problems and potential fixes. But is the process of thinking aloud necessary to uncover problems and insights? Earlier, we investigated the effects of TA on
ChatGPT. A sequence of letters that didn’t mean much to people a few months ago is now ubiquitous. It seems like every social media post mentions ChatGPT (especially the latest version, 4) and hypes it as a game changer. It’s been used to quickly summarize text, do homework, pass the bar exam, and code the game Duck Hunt
