active testing: real time collaborative analysis - july event on 'turning the mountain into a...

Active Testing: Real time collaborative analysis

208/04/2023

About Me…

Filip Healy Director of Consulting, Amberlight Partners

(M.Sc. Human Computer Interaction, B.Sc. (hons) Psychology)

I am a UX consultant with 11 years experience

Active member of UXPA

2010 UPA International conference co-chair

Conference committee member

Part 1: The usual approach to UX analysis

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Affinity mapping

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Locked in a room for 3-5 days!

Excel findings logs: also 2-3 days+

Help to consolidate, categorise and prioritise research findings

7

Priority level Total issues identified

H 3

M 7

L 8

Req. 3

Positive 12

Total 33

Next step: Fix remaining issues

Checklist for tracking issues and requirements

4321

h m l lmh lmhh m l

5

lmh

Task 1:

Review and change the way your photos are uploaded online

Then comes the report: another 2-4 days

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The problem with this…

• Not enough time

• There is no budget

• Constraints compounded if multiple rounds of testing

• Stakeholder team is not involved in the analysis process

Part 2: How to cut down the analysis time

One solution…

Active testing: A rapid way to run and analyse usability tests and build stakeholder engagement

Active testing step 1

Core stakeholders work together to observe full day

of sessions

1

• 1 day of testing with 4 – 5 users

• 1 large viewing room where the team of key stakeholders spend the day

• 2 UX moderators: one with the user and one with the stakeholders

Active testing step 2

Observations are captured and coded on small post its

2

Collaborative note-taking using printouts of screens and post its

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It’s like catching butterflies

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There’s very little time

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There is no time to examine and discuss

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Not everything is a catch

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Just pick the surprising ones

Active testing step 3

Post its are used to annotate large printouts of UI

screens3

Active testing works best for wireframes, prototypes and when testing the usability of a discrete number of tasks and functions

Tip 1: System to keep findings organised

Post it science…

Coding observations on the fly

User No.

Type Reference

Observations vs. quotes

Tip 2: Don’t rely on your memory

Use the right pen

Roller ball (fade proof) pens write instantly at any angle and do not smudge.

Make it legible!

Make it meaningful

Active testing step 4

Printouts used for analysis workshop

after sessions

4

• Review workshop at the end of the day to agree key issues and required actions

• Can be used repeatedly for rapid design & test iterations

Part 3: Summary of key benefits

Fast turnaround•Complete cycles in under a week•1 day of testing

Multiple iterations•Low cost•Feed straight into design

Stakeholder engagement•All on the same page•Deep understanding of insights

Focused objectives•Specific design questions•Limited use cases screens

Key principles

Thank you…

@amber-light.co.uk

58 Bloomsbury Street

London WC1B 3QT

+44 (0)207 307 7770

www.amber-light.co.uk

Filip Healy

filip