In Quantifying the User Experience, we recommend using a mix of task-level and study-level metrics, especially in benchmarking studies. But what, exactly, are task-level and study-level metrics, how do they differ, and why should you collect them both? In this article, we’ll explore this common practice of collecting both types of metrics to understand the
Despite its age and the availability of other UX measures such as the UX-Lite™ and SUPR-Q®, the ten-item System Usability Scale (SUS) is still a very popular measure. It’s used widely in benchmark tests of software products to generate an overall score of perceived usability. We regularly collect SUS scores for dozens of consumer and
In a previous article, we described three ways to estimate SUS scores from UX-Lite™ (and UMUX-Lite) scores, using either both items (perceived measures of Ease and Usefulness) or the Ease item only: Two-item interpolation: Scaling the mean of both items to a 100-point scale (Lite). One-item interpolation: Scaling just the Ease item to a 100-point
Individual differences in behavior and attitude often overshadow the differences in designs. There are many ways to characterize how people differ. But one characteristic that drives both attitudinal and behavioral UX metrics is prior experience. Beyond the more superficial aspects of demographic variables such as age, gender, income, and geography, a person’s experience with an
If you build it, they will come. That may work for a field of dreams. But when it comes to software and products, if you want people to stay and use the product, it had better be useful and usable. Or, at least, the users should think that it will be useful and usable. That’s
What makes a product successful? How does a new technology get adopted? Whether business software, a mobile app, or a physical product, there are plenty of examples of products that had a lot of promise but failed, and others that many consider a success. Plenty of books expound theories on developing a successful product (e.g.,
Researchers love to argue about the “right” number of points to use in a rating scale response option. Is the right number five, seven, three, ten, or eleven? The opinions often exceed the data for helping drive the decisions. When there are data, they are often hard to generalize, or they don’t really support the
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
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
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
