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Ask HN: How do you do your usability testing?
I'm working on building a site and we're in the early stages of design. In my day job, we talk a lot about usability and user-centered design but have implemented very little. I want my project to utilize some of the methods we've talked about, particularly methods gleaned from Steve Krug's "Don't make me think" and Jakob Nielsen's well-renowned site.
My question is: How do you do usability testing? What lessons have you learned? What software and equipment do you use? Is there a key piece of literature I need before I jump into this?
My budget is very limited, as this (so far) is a boot-strapped project. Any advice is appreciated.
- good_guys_win 17y agoAmass a large number of facebook "friends" that you don't know, then ask them (in the chat) to beta test whatever it is you create. If they ask questions for answers that should be self explanitory then you need to redo it until it's obvious. Hint: if you get facebook friends that are high and drunk all the time this can actually help idiot-proof your design as well.
- hshah 17y agoHere is a presentation that includes tactics on how to do usability testing as a startup: http://www.slideshare.net/cindyalvarez/user-testing-tactics http://www.slideshare.net/cindyalvarez/user-testing-tactics
- makecheck 17y agoI think the most important thing to do is limit your input. Find 5 people at most, and definitely document everything they say, but don't open up to the whole world. Otherwise you'll end up with so many conflicting opinions that you won't be able to make any decisions.
- yeti 17y agoFind 3-5 people/friends, get them in front of a machine and run through it. No fancy software, just sit next to them and observe, ask questions if they seem stuck or confused. We do it every couple of weeks, seems to work well. Also consider paying for 1-2 hours of a usability experts time to review your site in person, a very good investment.
- jrwoodruff 17y agoJust wanted to thank everyone for their input and add some info for posterity's sake; I stumbled across Silverback about 5 minutes ago and it's what I was looking for to help along testing. It simultaneously records a video of the user and a screencapture, so you can analyze where they're confused, happy, etc. http://www.silverbackapp.com/ http://www.silverbackapp.com/ Disclaimer: I have NO connection to this company, just found this useful.