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10.7 Summary 295

users in the research. Usability testing can involve many different stages of interface
development: paper prototypes, wireframes, partially working, or fully functional
prototypes. The specific details of the usability testing, such as the stage of prototype
development, location of testing, level of formality, task list, number of participants,
and the metrics used, will be determined by the budget, timeline, and logistics of the
interface development project. The goal is to coordinate closely with the developers
of the interface so that the interface problems discovered, will actually translate into
changes being made in the interface in a timely manner. Usability testing is focused
on practical usage in industry. Professional groups, such as the Usability Experience
Professionals Association (www.uxpa.org), provide useful information for practitio-
ners and researchers.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Name two ways in which usability testing is similar to experimental design and
two ways in which it is different from experimental design.
2. What business factors tend to drive the scope of usability testing?
3. Which should come first, a user-based test or an expert-based test and why?

4. What is a manual check in an automated usability test?
5. What is the difference between a formative usability test and a summative
usability test?

6. From a practical point of view, what business factors tend to determine how
many participants take part in usability testing?
7. What are the three qualities of a good task in a task list?

8. Why might it be challenging to utilize the user’s personal data in a
usability test?
9. What are the three most common quantitative measurements in a usability test?

10. What is the “thinking aloud” protocol and is it used more in formative or
summative testing?
11. What is a reflection session?

12. What three things do you need to remind participants about before they begin a
usability test?
13. Why should you not give any identification information about participants in
the final usability testing report?
14. What are two good reasons for using a Wizard-of-Oz approach to testing?

15. How does a technology probe differ from a cultural probe?