european bioinformatics institute senior user … - nikiforos...dr nikiforos karamanis senior user...

Dr Nikiforos Karamanis

Senior User Experience Designer

European Bioinformatics Institute

niki@ebi.ac.uk

Usability testing on steroidsHow to get feedback from more people in less time

@technorasis

What is usability testing?

Traditional usability testing

“Usability tests are about watching one person at a time try to use something (whether it’s a website, a prototype, or some sketches of a new design) to do typical tasks so you can detect and fix the things that confuse or frustrate them.”

Steve Krughttps://goo.gl/images/1dSqmG

Don't make me think Demo usability test

Traditional usability testing• A one-to-one session, one participant at a time giving

you feedback about your product.

• Typically takes about 60 to 90 minutes per participant.

• Feedback from 3 to 10 participants over a couple of days.

• Need to ask for feedback early and often!

What if you...• Have the opportunity to get feedback from several

participants...

• But only have 60-90 minutes with the whole group?

Group usability testing(testing on steroids)

We’re not testing you!

“There are no right or wrong answers. We are testing our website, not you. Please give us your honest feedback as this is the best way for us to see the website through your eyes.”

Please think aloud!

“As you are trying it out, please think aloud. Tell your partner what you’re trying to do and what’s going through your mind.”

Probing the participant without leading

Probing the participant without leading• “What goes through your mind when you look at this?”

• “What would you do if you were doing this on your own?”

• “What would you do to…?”

• “What are you looking for?”

• “What do you expect to happen next?”

• “Mmmm” and “huh” instead of “Great” and “Good job”

• “So what…” [trail into silence]

Give it a go!Form pairs:

• One person is the participant, the other is the facilitator.

• Participant:You need to go to London immediately after this session. Use your phone to find out when is the next train from Cambridge to Kings Cross.

• Facilitator helps participant to think aloud and takes notes.

Give it a go!In each table:

• Review the feedback on each post-it.

• Organise the post-its into themes.

• Give names to the themes.

Group usability testing: Pros• Great way for our team to collaborate before, during and

after the session.

• Team gets exposed to more feedback in less time.

• Participants get exposed to each other’s views:• Helps us spot common issues vs individual preferences.

• Participants loved it!• Became integral part of our project’s quarterly meetings.• Some participants later became facilitators.

Group usability testing: Tips• Initial pairing helps capture individual feedback and avoid

groupthink.

• Up to 5 pairs in 60 to 90 minutes works best.

• Combine it with• user research to better understand people’s motivations

and• traditional usability testing for more in-depth feedback.

• Works best with trained facilitators!

Group usability testing: VerdictEnabled us to:

• Do a couple of days work within a couple of hours.

• Leverage user feedback without compromising on its quality.

Thanks

• Our participants

• My colleagues and management at EMBL-EBI

Questions?

niki@ebi.ac.uk

@technorasis