Usability testing

Think –Aloud Usability Testing is an empirical technique for assessing the usability of a prototype of an interface. Based on the Think Aloud - Usability testing technique, we planned our screen interface testing and analyzed the results. The test was held during the class working session (Sep, 28, 2006) and consisted of a rotation of testers from each of the other groups.

The goal of our Usability testing was to determine how well people understand the scenario and persona, as well as how they react to the screen interface. That is, to determine what actions they take and what they think based on the feedback our interface gives them.

At the beginning of the test, we provided the tester with a description of the persona, the scenario, and a the first screen.

Following the presentation of our scenario, we showed our testing screens to the tester in this order. We did not force them to follow exactly the order we wanted, just watched what they chose to do and why. If the user chose an option that we did not have prototyped, we gathered as much detail as we could about why they chose that option and what they expected to happen as a result, and then asked them to choose the option we had prototyped instead.

Analysis

After the Usability Testing, we realized that lots of problems exist. Especially the small details such as zoom and brightness controls in Picture mode, the language terms of “share” or “Edit Audio”. Moreover, some of the transitions between screens were not understood. Consolidating all the comments from our testing, we realized that we should focus more on screen flow so that the system makes sense to people.