Slide deck for discussion on Guerrilla Usability Testing.

1. “JUST IN TIME”
USER TESTING
K Skate April
KSkateApril@hotmail.com
Oct 2, 2014 – Lunch UX SLC Meetup

2. WHO IS THIS SKATE GUY?
• Nickname from college that stuck
– Legally changed 10 years ago
• Developer by background
– 20 years Front-End / UI development
• 2 years now as UX / Interaction Designer
– Learning every day

3. SO WHY AM I UP HERE?
• No one else volunteered
– No, really…
• Presenting at User Conference in 3 weeks
– Wanted some practice in front of live audience
• Observation: Not enough User Testing
– By people that could & should be doing it

4. SHOW OF HANDS
Who here has done any
User Testing?

5. CHIME IN

6. MY GOAL
For you to leave here knowing:
How to do a quick & dirty User Test.
That you can & should be doing them.
and
That it doesn’t have to be hard!

7. WHAT IS USABILITY TESTING?
(ALSO KNOWN AS A USER TEST)
A way to get feedback
on
designs, prototypes, products, etc.
from
actual users
performing a series of tasks
while you
watch for problems

8. WHY THE LACK OF TESTING?
• Too expensive
• Never done it before
• Lab not available
• Too many test types
• Product not ready
• Don’t know where to
start
• No participants
• No budget
• No approval
• No testing lab
• No local users
• No time
• Etc…

9. LOOKING BACK

10. LIGHT BULB MOMENT

11. GORILLA TESTING
• Not testing our products
on actual gorillas
• Not insinuating that our
users are no smarter than
a gorilla

12. GORILLA TESTING
• Some is better than none
• Sooner is better than later
• Better you than the customer
• Keep it simple so you keep doing it
• Get just what you need
• Never going to find ALL issues

13. A TEST BY ANY OTHER NAME...
…sounds less frightening!
Feedback Session
Usability Study
Sneak Peak
Live Demo
…

14. HOW TO TEST
1. Prepare
2. Facilitate
3. Evaluate

15. 1. PREPARE
• Decide what to test
• Determine how to test it – tasks
• Identify target audience
• Find a location
• Schedule the test – date & time(s)
• Recruit users to test with
• Set up at location on day of test

16. http://www.userfocus.co.uk/pdf/usabilitydashboard.pdf

17. Hello,
I’m contacting you with a short questionnaire to verify your eligibility for an upcoming usability study with
Google. This study is an opportunity to provide feedback on something that's currently in development. This
study will help the Google team better understand your needs in order to incorporate them into future
product enhancements.
We’re currently scheduling participants for a study that takes place Tuesday, October 7th, Wednesday,
October 8th, Thursday, October 9th and Friday, October 10th out of our office in Seattle.
If you’re interested in participating, please complete the questionnaire here.
We’ll then be in touch directly to discuss details and set your appointment time.
Details of the study:
* The duration of the study is either 60 or 90 minutes.
* You’ll receive a $100 or $125 gift code by email from Perks, our incentives distributor, as a token of our
appreciation. The amount depends on the length of your session. Their online catalog includes gift cards
from VISA and a variety of retailers in fashion, housewares, sporting goods, books and more. Gift card
options can be viewed at http://www.google.com/usability/research/perks/index1.html
To participate you will need to:
* Be at least 18 years old
* Accept the terms of our Usability Non-Disclosure Agreement
* Allow us to video or audio record the session
**Please note that you won’t be compensated for responding to this questionnaire; you’ll receive a gratuity
only if you actually attend a study session with Google.**
Thank you for your time.
Actual email I received…

18. 2. FACILITATE
• Use Krug’s templates/downloads

19. http://www.sensible.com/downloads-rsme.html

21. 2. FACILITATE
• Use Krug’s templates/downloads
• Relax participant with easy questions
• Get them talking out loud
• Ask open questions
• Shut up and watch
• Take notes if/when appropriate

22. 3. EVALUATE
• Look through notes
• Review recording & create snippets
• Create a recording summary
• Identify issues
• Make recommendations
• Present back to team
• Prioritize

23. LETS RUN A QUICK TEST

24. TESTING TOOLS
• Silverback (for Mac)
• Morae / Camtasia (for Windows)
• GoToMeeting
• USB Camera & Microphone
• Others ???

25. QUICK REVIEW
• Test early and often
• Don’t need to be an expert
• Don’t need an expensive lab
• Don’t need an elaborate test
• Don’t need to capture lots of metrics
• Focus on finding the big issues
• The more you do it, the better you get

26. JUST DO IT ALREADY
• Block out 2 hours TOMORROW
• Decide what to test & come up with
some tasks (3 to 5 is plenty)
• Grab a colleague and a conference
room (30 min should do it)
• Run a quick and dirty test
• Review the test and identify some
things to fix

27. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES