This is a test

Elyse Sanchez, Monday, April 23, 2007 @ 2:50 pm

The fundamental rationale that underlies the direct and observational techniques of user research is that a user’s actions speak louder than their words. As a matter of fact, as usability specialists we are trained to go beyond the surface of a comment and probe for the motivation that spurred the verbal reaction: if, for example, a user encounters an obstacle during a usability test, is the cause a design flaw or a unique characteristic of that individual? In my experience, many participants have an almost palpable desire to please the facilitator and avoid making “mistakes” during the assessment.

The paraphernalia the researcher uses in the session can intensify the user’s perception that there are clear right and wrong actions. We often come armed with detailed test scripts that rigidly cover every user action to be evaluated and reading from these documents frequently supersedes a less structured approach, where a conversation, coupled with observation, can often yield better findings.

Mark Hurst, of goodexperience.com, has written an article titled “Four Words to Improve User Research,” which promotes an intriguing twist to the standard technique. The magic four words?

Don’t

define

tasks

beforehand.

He continues, “When you walk into the testing facility as the moderator, or even as the client, *don’t* have a script or list of tasks written out already. Maybe you were told to do so in a usability book or by a ‘guru,’ or learned it at school. But don’t do it.”

Hurst instead suggests beginning a dialogue with the user regarding the website or application. This helps the facilitator understand at an early point the user’s context, but, more importantly, demonstrates that we’re really listening. I’ve been influenced by his reasoning, though I can’t take my sessions to the extend he recommends. At least not yet, largely because clients expect no surprises and have very specific goals for the testing. Usability tests cost a fair amount of money, and customers expect you to demonstrate your expertise concretely and in advance via the test script. Ironically, this perpetuates the general mistrust of the value of the user’s spoken commentary, because spontaneous comments fall outside the expected domain of the test.

user experience design

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