Comparison of Usability Testing Methods

There was a time when we spoke of usability testing it meant expensive labs and one-way mirrors. Not anymore. There are three core ways of running usability tests. Each has their advantages and disadvantages. Lab-Based: This is the classic services to usability testing: users physically come to a lab, often with a one-way mirror and

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The Right Tool for the User Research Method

There are many great methods for gathering insights from users. And there are definitely many software programs and services to help. Instead of making a long list of them I’ve presented the few I use the most when conducting user research. Lab Based Usability Test The classic method of usability testing involves bringing users into

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Measuring Usefulness

Is it easy to use? As important as that question is, there’s one that’s more important: Is it useful? First and foremost, a product, website or application should solve a problem, fill a need or offer something people find useful. In fact, people are willing to put up with poor usability if a product delivers

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5 Benefits of Remote Usability Testing

Remote usability testing has become increasingly popular among user researchers and grew by 19% since 2009. Even though I have easy access to a brick and mortal usability lab, I particularly like remote testing  for at least 5 reasons: 1. Availability: Do you have time next week to drive to a place you’ve never been,

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The Methods UX Professionals Use

There are many tools in the UX professional’s toolkit. It’s always interesting to know the popular and neglected methods. The recent UPA biennial survey asked members which UX methods they use in addition to their salaries and I’ve summarized some results here. I’ve grouped the responses into larger categories so they’re more digestible, but clearly

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Five Important Things To Do Before Any Redesign

It’s time for that major redesign. A long list of bugs, feature-requests and usability problems have accumulated and it’s time to fix that website, intranet or software application. Where do you start? Do look for a new technology, feature requests from the VP, the oldest, most neglected problems in the bug-tracking database? All of these

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How To Quantify Comments

Just because customer information is qualitative doesn’t mean you can’t use some quantitative methods to help interpret and prioritize your findings. Quantifying the frequency of comments with a confidence interval helps you estimate a sentiment in the total user population. Analyzing and prioritizing comments is a common task for the user researcher. Open ended comments

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What Really Happens In The Usability Lab?

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

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