Usability Testing and the Developers (Part 2)

Summary

This article deals with the �How to� of presenting your usability test findings to the developers, and convincing them about the changes in design.

Presenting Your Work

The most important thing about usability test is �how well you have documented the results?� Here are some tips.

Checklists/Questionnaires

Always use a checklist for usability testing. Maybe the Top 10 heuristics that
Jakob Nielsen propounded? I used it (gave a rating scale of 0-9 for each item) and the results were great. I complemented the test results with a UI satisfaction survey on the users. I had only five users, but I knew that was enough. If you are wondering how I had developed the questions for the survey, forget it, I didn�t develop it, I just ran a search on google for �UI surveys� and studied what kind of questions are asked. And tailored them to my needs.

I checked for:

1. Visibility of system status
   
2. Match between system and the real world
   
3. User control and freedom
   
4. Consistency and standards
   
5. Error prevention
   
6. Recognition rather than recall
   
7. Flexibility and efficiency of use
   
8. Aesthetic and minimalist design
   
9. Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from
   errors
   
10. Help and documentation

Packaging the collected information

Now this is tough part. You have raw data in your hand, and that alone is not enough. You have to convert this raw data into a convincing document(s). I made two documents, one for the usability test results and another for the UI survey (with graphs et al, thanks to MS-Excel).

And then I made a PowerPoint presentation using information from both the above-mentioned documents. I invited the developers, along with their managers (this is important, without support from managers you can�t do much) for a presentation. The content of the presentation was objective, informative; at least I tried my best to keep it that way. I never glorified the faults of the systems UI, I started with �what is usability?� and moved to �why usability?� and came to the findings of the usability test. I told them to speak to the developer friend who was with me during the test; he had had a first hand experience remember. The presentation went off well, I mean there were a few murmurs here and there, but over all it was cool. I mailed the two documents to all of them, clearly stating that I am merely trying to help them fine tune the wonderful work they had done, and not being a critic of their work. This is very important, be open and honest, tell them �I am not here to find faults, you have slogged your butt off for so many days and created this product, I am merely giving you a third-party perspective, trying to help you make it better.�

I thought I was successful. I was patting my back for my diplomatic excellence and amazing communication skills. And one developer shoots off a mail to all concerned, �Who is he to question? How can he redesign that screen? (I did it to show them how it could be displayed better!) � And �for every quote he has used in his documents, I have a counter, that proves him wrong.�

I had real tough time trying to keep my cool. But I had to. I mean they are right. Everybody�s right. Maybe I should have educated them about usability, drummed-in the importance of usability before I went on with the product testing like a cowboy. But remember it is never about right or wrong. It is about �does it work for the user.� Most developers say �we have tested it, why do we need another usability testing?� You can�t blame them for that. And programmers code. I don�t. So, I wouldn�t be surprised if one (or more) of them thinks �he can�t even write code how can he be a judge?� I am not. Tell them that. Tell them you are not judging anything.Tell them you are merely �Translating� the users� views about the system.

Most of what I had discussed could be irrelevant for you. I mean environments vary. So treat my words as a friend�s raving and cribbing, and try not to make the mistakes I had made.

If you have any questions/doubts or if you simply want to write a hate mail :-) feel free to
write to me. at suman1973kumar@yahoo.com

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