new york, new york may 25, 2012 rocket surgery made easy: the do-it-yourself usability testing...

New York, New YorkMay 25, 2012

Rocket Surgery Made Easy:

The Do-It-Yourself Usability Testing Workshop

© 2012 Steve Krug

Do not repost or otherwise publish without permission

© 2001 Steve Krug

Who is this guy, anyway?

Steve Krug (steev kroog) (noun) 1. Son, husband, father 2. Resident of Brookline, MA3. Usability consultant

Advanced Common Sense Me and a few well-placed mirrors Corporate motto: “It’s not rocket surgery™”

Nice clients Lexus.com Bloomberg.com Technology Review

© 2001 Steve Krug

I get to work at home

© 2001 Steve Krug

My intention for today

Give you some practice so you’re comfortable testing

Try to answer all your questions so you have no reason left not to test

© 2001 Steve Krug

This morning

Why do usability testing? Steve does a demo test Six Maxims Writing tasks and scenarios

© 2001 Steve Krug

This afternoon

You do your first practice tests You do another practice test Assorted topics Lingering questions Giveaways and feedback

© 2001 Steve Krug

Ground rules

Tell the driver to speak up, if necessary Interrupt ANYTIME with questions I’ll answer questions about anything

except that brief period during the late 70’s

© 2001 Steve Krug

Anybody here from out of town?

Graphic designers Information architects Developers/programmers “Marketing” Usability ______ Project managers Writers/editors Check signers Other? Left-handed?

© 2001 Steve Krug

Anybody here from out of town?

Your experience with usability testing Have conducted tests (facilitator)? Have observed tests? Have read usability test reports?

Your organization’s use of testing Never? Right before (or right after) product ships? Routine (several times during development)? Farmed out? Have your own lab (and white coats)?

© 2001 Steve Krug

One more question

What are the biggest obstacles to your doing testing?

Who’s read the book(s)?

DMMT? Rocket Surgery? Watched the video? Don’t worry, be happy, ask questions

© 2001 Steve Krug

So…

Why usability testing? Ten years ago, I realized something…

© 2001 Steve Krug

© 2001 Steve Krug

“My ideal home page,” as told by…

And now, a live demonstration

© 2001 Steve Krug

© 2001 Steve Krug

A brave volunteer?

We’ll try an actual test It’s painless It’s brief You’ll get a round of applause when we’re

done

Qualifying criteria: Have used a Web browser English-speaking adult Doesn’t work on __________

During the test You are observers Jot down top 1 or 2 problems you observed

Debriefing

What were the most serious problems? Observed problems

© 2001 Steve Krug

© 2001 Steve Krug

DIY usability testing (nutshell version)

Three users You’ll find more than you can fix

No lab or mirrors Set up a monitor in another room so the

development team can watch

Record with Camtasia or Morae (Techsmith.com) or CamStudio or

various Mac products

No stats, no exit questions, no faux validity

No big honkin’ report Debrief over lunch

The maxims

Six of them I could (and have) talk about them all day Questions highly encouraged

What seems like it might not work for you?

© 2001 Steve Krug

© 2001 Steve Krug

A morning a month, that’s all we ask.

© 2001 Steve Krug

When this happens: Say this:You’re not absolutely sure you know what the user is thinking (see below).

“What are you thinking?”

“What are you looking at?” (for variety)

“What are you doing now?” (e.g., if you think they’re being silent because they’re reading)

Something happens that seems to surprise them. For instance, they click on a link and go “Oh” when the new page appears.

“Is that what you expected to happen?”

They’re trying to get you to give them a clue. (“Should I use the ___?”)

“What would you do if you were at home?”

“What would you do if I wasn't here?”

The participant makes a comment, and you’re not sure what triggered it.

“Was there something in particular that made you think that?”

The participant suggests concern that he’s not giving you what you need.

“No, this is very helpful.”

“This is exactly what we need.”The participant asks you to explain how something is supposed to work. (“Do these support requests get answered right away?”)

“I can’t answer that right now, because we need to know what you would do when you don’t have somebody around to answer questions for you. But if you still want to know when we’re done, I’ll be glad to answer it then.”

The participant seems to have wandered away from the task.

“What are you trying to do now?”

© 2001 Steve Krug

Start earlier than you think makes sense.

Incorrect thinking

© 2001 Steve Krug

Correct thinking

© 2001 Steve Krug

© 2001 Steve Krug

Recruit loosely and grade on a curve.

© 2001 Steve Krug

Naturally, we need to test people who are just like our target

audience. … people who are a lot like

our users.

… people who actually use our

site.

Representative users!

Real users!

© 2001 Steve Krug

Make it a spectator sport.

© 2001 Steve Krug

Focus ruthlessly on a small number of the most important problems.

What’s funny about this?

Show of hands: Have you ever gone to a Web site and run into a serious usability problem?

Did you find yourself thinking “How can they not have noticed this? And fixed it?”

Did you go back months later and it was still there?

© 2001 Steve Krug

The problem is, testing works

If you’ve done any testing, you know it works

Uncovers lots of problems quickly But I’ve finally realized this is part of the

problem You can find more problems in a day than

you can fix in a month

© 2001 Steve Krug

© 2001 Steve Krug

Problems you can find with just a few test participants

Problems you have the resources to fix

Things I have learned

It’s easy to get seduced into fixing the easier problems first

As a result, the most serious usability problems often remain for a long time

© 2001 Steve Krug

© 2001 Steve Krug

When fixing problems, always do the least you can do™.

© 2001 Steve Krug

Your motto

When fixing usability problems, your motto should be: What’s the smallest change we can make

that we think might solve the observed problem?

© 2001 Steve Krug

Choosing tasks to test

What do you have to show? Try not to let this limit your thinking, though

You can get a long way with A sketch or a few “comps” Linked wireframes to test navigation HTML of a few pages that let you complete a

task as long as you don’t stray See Carolyn Snyder’s Paper Prototyping

© 2001 Steve Krug

Choosing tasks to test

What do you wake up thinking about in the middle of the night?

What tasks are people likely to do? What tasks are crucial?

…to the user and your business model

Whenever possible, keep it real Free-range browsing tasks are a good thing Bad: “Buy a gift cupholder for under $35.” Better: “Order a book you’d like to have”

Tasks vs. Scenarios

Task: “Apply for a doctoral program at HBS”

Scenario: “You’ve got an MBA, and after a lot of research

you’ve decided to enter the doctoral program at HBS in Science, Technology & Management.

Apply for admission to the program.”

A scenario... Provides some context (“You are...”, “You need

to...”) Just enough; DON’T get carried away Supplies specific information the user would

actually have © 2001 Steve Krug

© 2001 Steve Krug

Writing the scenarios

Don’t telegraph it Avoid using words that will appear on-screen Bad: “Customize your LAUNCHcast station.” Better: “Choose the kind of music you want to

listen to.” Can be the hardest part

Make it unambiguous Misunderstandings waste time and don’t

[usually] produce useful insights

Keep it short Trim any detail that doesn’t contribute

Piloting the test will help

Exercise: Preparing tasks

Jot down 3-7 of the most important tasks people need to do on your site (4 min.) E.g., “Find directions to your nearest Bank of

America branch”, “Apply for a doctoral program”

Choose one to work on Write a scenario for this task (10 min.)

A short paragraph “Don’t use Search” is OK Write it out so you can read it verbatim

© 2001 Steve Krug

Now send me your scenario(s)

Go to

bit.ly/NYCSK

Click the orange “Post a new message” button

Use your name to sign in (so we can identify them)

Type the URL you’re testing Type your scenario

© 2001 Steve Krug

Exercise: Practice test

Pair up with someone who has a laptop Take turns as facilitator/participant 12 minutes each

Start Camtasia if you have it Read the script Have them look at Home page (<2 min.) Give them the task Keep them thinking aloud Thank them Save your Camtasia file

I can help if you have questions© 2001 Steve Krug

The debriefing

Over lunch (or dinner, or breakfast) Right after the three test sessions Objective: Deciding what you’re going to

commit to fixing before the next round of testing

© 2001 Steve Krug

The debriefing

Go around the room Everyone contributes from their list of nine

problems Write on easel pad Leave some space for

improvements/amendments People can say “Me too!” Treat all contributions with respect Not discussing yet Stick to observed problems!

© 2001 Steve Krug

The debriefing

Decide which are most serious Some magic happens here Voting/Dictatorship Not usually as hard as it seems BECAUSE

THEY ALL SAW THE SAME BEHAVIOR Number them

Copy the numbered list Ten is probably enough Leave space in between

© 2001 Steve Krug

The debriefing

Start at the top Work down the list Come up with rough idea of how you’ll fix

them who will do it the resources required

When you’ve allocated the resources you can commit in next month, STOP! Tear off the rest of the list Crumple it up Throw it away

Thanks to Susan Weinschenck © 2001 Steve Krug

© 2001 Steve Krug

Thanks for all the fish

Send any questions, feedback, gripes to [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

new york, new york may 25, 2012 rocket surgery made easy: the do-it-yourself usability testing...

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