In her Facilitating Usability Tests online webinar September 23, 2010, Christine Perfetti discussed her process for moderating usability tests and provided tips and best practices for facilitating a study.

Perfetti’swebinar focused on:

1. Overview of steps for running a usability test
2. Test setup
3. Three roles of a facilitator
4. Tips and tricks for facilitating a study

The goal of a usability test is to learn from users what problems they have interacting with your product. It’s easiest to do that by sitting down beside a user and see what they do and view what problems user have with the interface.

Usability labs are not needed to get feedback. Perfetti commented that a conference room setup can be less anxiety provoking to the user.

Main Reasons People Don’t Conduct Usability Tests

1. Take too much time
2. Take too many resources
3. No buy-in from management
4. Unsure where to start

Be MacGyver and Nike

• As a moderator, you’re acting as MacGyver in your role. Like the end of any MacGyver episode, it’s our job to get the job done.
• Just go out and do it. It’s not rocket science.
  • Start testing anywhere
  • Start testing anyone

Facilitator Priorities

In her explanation of a facilitator’s priorities, Perfetti referred to Carolyn Snyder’s Paper Prototyping book. A facilitator wears three hats:

1. Flight attendent
   1. Responsible for safety & comfort of users
   2. When users arrive, your role is to assure them they will allow us to gather incredible feedback
   3. Ensure your user has no anxiety about the test session
2. Sportscaster
   1. Similar to the play-by-play of a game, we have many observers who are trying to learn how the product is working or not working
   2. Observers may not pick up all the plays
   3. Our job as facilitator is to give the play-by-play
   4. If the user is quiet, it’s our job to ask the user to talk
3. Scientist
   1. As moderator, need to collect all the data necessary for the session
   2. Plan the study activities (ensure design team is getting info they need)
   3. Gather & prioritize data with observers
   4. Communicate the results of the study
      1. reports
      2. presentations

Usability Testing in a Nutshell

1. Pre-testing briefing (users & observers)
   1. Observers
      1. Need to come 30 minutes early
      2. Explain what to observe during the user session
      3. Set the ground rules (their role is to observe, not ask questions)
      4. Give observers opportunity to understand the tasks
      5. Give brief overview of users’ backgrounds
   2. Users
      1. Put user at ease, give users a sense of what to expect in the session
      2. For users who haven’t participated in a user test before, reassure them
      3. Make it clear you’re not evaluating the user, you’re evaluating the product
      4. Explain to user he/she can stop the test at any time
      5. Explain it’s not an issue if a task can’t be completed; reassure user the problems
         1. they experience are not their fault
         2. they’re having provides valuable information
2. Introduce users and observers
   1. Have observers introduce themselves by first name only, but don’t include roles of the observer (causes less anxiety for users)
3. Explain testing protocol to users
   1. How long the test session will last
   2. The tasks (not the full description, but the number of tasks)
   3. Give users opportunity to ask questions
4. Conduct the test
   1. Give users scenarios and tasks to complete
   2. When selecting tasks for the test, focus on the main activities of the product, the ones most important to your business
   3. You can read the task aloud, or provide written instructions. (sometimes it’s easiest to read the task)
   4. Check that the user understands the task
   5. Observe user behavior as they complete the task
      1. Verbally reinforce the action
      2. Respond to user silence or when the user says “I’m confused”
         1. Learn what is going on
         2. Ask some questions
            1. Is that what you expected?
            2. What are you thinking?
            3. What are you trying to accomplish?
            4. What does XX mean to you?
            5. Can you say more about that?
      3. Getting users unstuck
         1. As facilitator, must balance how much infor you can get from user and reassure the user when needed
         2. Ask questions. Move from general to specific questions. Here’s a few questions you can try:
            1. Can you explain what you’re trying to do?
            2. What do you see here?
            3. What do you think you might do next?
            4. Do you see anything at the top of the screen that might help you?
            5. What do you think that link does?
      4. Provide encouragement
         1. If user is struggling or anxious, tell them they’re doing great. Reassure them and give positive reinforcement.
            1. You’re doing a great job. This is valuable information to use.
            2. Ask is user needs a break or a drink (no, not beer!)
            3. After a stressful task, take a break or talk with the user (be mindful of time).
5. End of Session Q & A with Users
   1. How did the session go?
   2. Were the tasks you completed realistic tasks?
   3. What are the two things you liked about the product?
      1. ends the test session on a positive note
      2. don’t make design decisions based on the the two things the user liked (these are opinion, not results of your testing)
   4. What are two things you would like to see improve about the product?
      1. Gives a sense of what users think are most important.

Lots of questions were asked at the end of the webinar, specifically about tools facilitators can use to record sessions. Perfetti spoke highly of Camtasia and Morae from TechSmith (proud to say TechSmith is in my state of Michigan. They’re a big supporter of the Michigan Usability Professionals’ Association where I’m Event Officer). For Mac users, Perfetti recommended Silverback.

Additional Resources

• The Handbook of Usability Testing by Jeffrey Rubin, Dana Chisnell and Jared Spool
• Paper Prototyping by Carolyn Snyder
• Moderating Usability Tests: Principles and Practices by Joseph Dumas &/ Beth Loring

Follow Christine Perfetti on Twitter at @cperfetti