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Testing Methods and
Tools
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Introduction
Comprehensive sites on Usability Testing Methods and
Tools
Usability Testing Methods
Usability Testing Tools
Automated Tools
Usability Labs
Case Studies
Credits
Usability is the combination of fitness for purpose, ease of use, and
ease of learning
that makes a product effective. Usability testing focuses on determining
if the product is
easy to learn, satisfying to use and contains the functionality that the
users desire. The
movement towards usability testing stimulated the evolution of Usability
Labs. Many
forms of usability testing have been tried from discount usability
engineering,
field tests to competitive usability testing. Apart from research and
development of
various testing methods there have been development in the field of
automated tools for
evaluation of interface designs against usability guidelines. Some of the
tools are DRUM,
WebCAT, WebSAT etc.
This page provides informative links to other sources on World Wide
Web, focusing on
issues of Usability Testing Methods and Tools. The Page is organized in
four
subsections.
The first section includes links to Comprehensive sites that cover various
aspects of
usability including Testing Methods and Tools. The second section covers
sites on Testing
Methods e.g. Heuristic, surveys etc. The third section contains links to
Testing Tools
including automated tools and testing labs. The fourth section presents
links
to some case studies. Lastly, we credit the people who maintain this page.
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| Comprehensive sites on
Usability Testing Methods and Tools |
Top |
Jakob Nielsen, Ph.D., is a principal of the Nielsen Norman Group, a
user experience
consultant. The site can be called the encyclopedia of information on
usability
engineering.
Usable Web is a collection of 390 links and accompanying information
about human
factors, user interface issues, and usable design specific to the World
Wide Web. Usable
Web adds value to the links by providing descriptions, multiple
organizational schemes (by
date, by site, by topic) and custom search engine queries.
| Usability
Testing Methods
|
Top |
One of the most effective forms of inspection-based user testing
involves the use of a
"usability checklist." Checklist-based user testing is extremely
inexpensive to
implement, and requires a surprisingly small number of testers to be
effective.
This site decomposes Usability Evaluation Methods into Testing,
Inspection, and
Inquiry. It offers nine different testing methods and offers an overview,
procedures and
references pertaining to these methods.
A number of methods can be used to gather requirements and identify
tasks for Web
sites. Because there is no "one size fits all" solution, the
specific
requirements, schedule, and objectives of a project will usually dictate
the appropriate
method or methods to use. Additionally, each method has its strengths and
weaknesses, and
these along with sample materials are provided to help usability engineers
evaluate which
method is most appropriate for a given situation.
| SUMI |
Serco Usability Services |
SUMI (Software Usability Measurement Inventory) is a rigorously tested
and proven
method of measuring software quality from the user's viewpoint. It
delivers a subjective
measurement of user satisfaction.
A site describing various methods of usability testing: Thinking Aloud
protocol,
Co-discovery method, Question asking protocol, Performance measurement
etc.
Fundamentals of Usability Testing is a paper by Russell J. Branaghan,
Ph.D. describing
various steps in usability testing methodology i.e. Purpose of the test,
General problem
statement and so on.
This is a description of a usability study discussing about individual
test sessions
showing what each participant does, the role of observers, the usability
report detailing
the product's strengths and weaknesses.
Discussion of Heuristic evaluation, Pluralistic usability walkthrough
test methods by
Usability Test Group of Helsinki University of Technology.
Provides an overview of usability testing methodology. It also
introduces concepts of
interviews, task analysis, prototyping and expert reviews.
Provides a link to the usability testing handbook for the Software and
Automation
Systems Branch (Code 522) at the NASA / Goddard Space Flight Center.
Various Automated Testing Tools have been developed and are used to
evaluate usability
from different perspectives. In addition, various companies and
organizations offer
specialized services to assist in Usability testing with the use of their
testing labs.
Even large organizations like Microsoft and IBM have their own usability
testing labs and
tools. This section is divided in two parts: Automated tools and
Usability Labs.
Comprehensive GUI quality solutions
for the professional Windows application developer.
ErgoLight offers solutions for developers of Windows
applications for testing and evaluating their usability.
Tool Suite contains rapid, remote, and automated tools to help in
producing usable web
sites. The Web Static Analyzer Tool (WebSAT) checks the html of a web page
against
numerous usability guidelines. The output from WebSAT consists of
identification of
potential usability problems, which should be investigated further through
user testing.
The Web Category Analysis Tool (WebCAT) lets the usability engineer
quickly construct and
conduct a simple category analysis across the web.
| Bobby |
Center for Applied Special Technology |
Bobby is a web-based public service offered by CAST that analyzes web
pages for their
accessibility to people with disabilities as well as their compatibility
with various
browsers.
| DRUM |
Serco Usability Services |
DRUM is a software tool, which has been developed by close cooperation
between Human
Factors professionals and software engineers to provide a broad range of
support for
video-assisted observational studies.
| Form Testing
Suite |
Corporate Research and Advanced Development,
Digital Equipment
Corporation |
Provides a test suite developed to test various web browsers. The test
results section
provides a description of the tests.
The Usability Center (ULAB) is a full service organization, which
provides a
"Street-Wise" approach to usability risk management and product
usability
excellence. It has custom designed ULAB facilities.
Usability Sciences Corporation has a usability lab in Dallas consisting
of two large offices separated
by a one way mirror. The test room in each lab is equipped with multiple
video cameras,
audio equipment, as well as everything a user needs to operate the
program. The video
control and observation room features five monitors, a video recorder with
special effects
switching, two-way audio system, remote camera controls, a PC for test log
purposes, and a
telephone for use as a help desk.
UserWorks, Inc. (formerly Man-Made Systems) is a consulting firm in the
Washington, DC
area specializing in the design of user-product interfaces. UserWorks does
analyses,
market research, user interface design, rapid prototyping, product
usability evaluations,
competitive testing and analyses, ergonomic analyses, and human factors
contract
research. UserWorks offers several portable usability labs
(audio-video data
collection systems) for sale or rent and an observational data logging
software product
for sale.
Lodestone Research has usability-testing laboratory with state of the
art audio and
visual recording and testing equipment. All equipment has been designed to
be portable so
that it can be taken on the road. The lab consists of a test room and an
observation/control room that can seat as many as ten observers. A-V
equipment includes
two (soon to be 3) fully controllable SVHS cameras, capture/feed
capabilities for test
participant's PC via scan converter and direct split signal (to VGA
"slave"
monitors in observation room), up to eight video monitors and four VCA
monitors for
observer viewing, mixing/editing equipment, and "wiretap"
capabilities to
monitor and record both sides of telephone conversation (e.g., if
participant calls
customer support).
Provides insight into the usability test laboratory at Online Computer
Library Center,
Inc. It gives an overview of the infrastructure as well as the process
being used in the
laboratory.
Provides insight into how usability improvements were made in a highly
successful
product, Lotus cc:Mail for Windows. The document discusses the entire
improvement process
divided into four phases, of which, testing forms the second phase.
Is a paper on Lessons from Pilot Studies about Examining World Wide Web
Designs. The
findings are based on three projects: 1. The Online Catalog Project, 2.
The Graduate
School Application Forms Project, and 3. WWW and Multimedia Instructional
Modules
Comparison Project.
Provides the outcome of usability test conducted to compare Netscape
Navigator with
Microsoft Internet Explorer. The document is informative and gives a
starting point for
anyone interested in evaluating a product as compared to a competitor's
product.
This page was created by:
This page was last modified on 1/12/99.
