UX Study Note 5: Usability Evaluation Techniques

What is the purpose of usability evaluation? When would you like to consider using usability? What are the key techniques to conduct usability evaluation?

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Key Study Notes for the Course:

What is the purpose of usability evaluation?

The purpose behinds usability evaluation is to ensure the design is fit for purpose. You might want to use usability when you were accessing the usability of an existing website, refining the design or embarking a new design.

Key Techniques of Usability Evaluation:

1. Usability walkthrough

It is an informal way to doing usability evaluation. It often involves a rough mock up.

2. Usability testing

Usability testing is often done in a controlled environment and  using real users of the website. It is one on one session.The idea is to reveal usability issues early and help recommend fixes to the design.

Five phases of a usability testing:

1) Introduction and formalities

2) Pre-test session: give some questionnaires to fill out

3) Crux of the testing: give users some scenarios

4) Post-test: find what they did

5) Debrief: what happen after the test

3. Expert Review

It is also called heuristic evaluation which involves best practice guidelines for website

The goal is to be thinking about your user goals and business goals.

4. Competitor analysis

The whole idea is to pick the best from each website to help build a strategy to improve your website.

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Learning Insight:

When you plan to conduct usability evaluation, you need to be clear about the purpose (address the issue, refine the design, or create a new design), think about the scope,  users’ needs, context, and budget.

After you complete the usability evaluation, you need to analyze the cause of the problem, the patterns of user behaviors, and then speak with your clients about the key findings.

注明：禁止抄袭和转载。谢谢配合。