Having participants think aloud is a valuable tool used in UX research. It’s primarily used to understand participants’ mental processes, which can ultimately uncover problems with an interface. It has a rich history in the behavioral sciences that dates back over a century. Despite its value, it’s not without its controversy. Some research has shown
They’re the stuff of movies, TV shows, and usability labs. One-way mirrors (or two-way mirrors depending on who you ask) are an enduring symbol of interrogation, psychology experiments, focus groups, and usability tests. This special piece of glass is brightly lit from one side to allow people to inconspicuously observe people on the other side.
“I’d like you to think aloud as you use the software.” Having participants think aloud as they use an interface is a cornerstone technique of usability testing. It’s been around for much of the history of user research to help uncover problems in an interface. Despite its popularity, there is surprisingly little consistency on how
One of the best ways to make metrics more meaningful is to compare them to something. The comparison can be the same data from an earlier time point, a competitor, a benchmark, or a normalized database. Comparisons help in interpreting data in both customer research specifically and in data analysis in general. For example, we’re
As if the Net Promoter Score didn’t already stir up enough strong opinions about whether it’s the “right” metric for organizations, now there’s a new controversy: how to display it. In case you’re unfamiliar with it, the Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a popular measure of customer loyalty. It’s derived by asking a single question
Observing just a few users interact with a product or website can tell you a wealth of information about what’s working and not working. But to loosely quote Lord Kelvin, when we can measure something and express it in numbers, we understand and manage it better. Measuring usability allows us to better understand how changes
You go to your doctor for a checkup. You’re feeling fine but as a matter of procedure, your doctor orders a battery of tests and scans to be sure all is well. She runs 30 tests in total. A few days later she calls and tells you one of the tests came back positive–an indication
While we often talk about usability tests as if there is one type of usability test, the truth is there are several varieties of usability tests. Each type addresses different research goals. Don’t confuse the five usability testing types with the interface type or the testing modes. Interface types are mobile (website or apps), desktop
Speeders are survey participants who finish too quickly, even impossibly quickly. How much do they affect the quality of online research? This question has increasing relevance as online research proliferates, including unmoderated usability studies, since an increasing amount of data comes from paid panel participants. With in-person studies, we see each participant’s engagement level. With
In the fast-paced world of Agile development, where it’s difficult to find time to get data from users, unmoderated remote testing gives us a way to quickly collect feedback on interface design. For example, I recently worked with a web-app product team to determine whether users find their new file manager easier to use than
