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Test & Refine |
Create Final Scenarios
- What is a scenario?
- What makes a good scenario for usability testing?
- What does NOT go in a scenario for usability testing?
- Should you write down how to accomplish the task?
- What if you are giving participants choices for answers?
- What if users have difficulty understanding a scenario?
What is a scenario?
In usability testing, participants use the Web site (or prototype or Web application) to do tasks. The scenarios are the means for telling participants what tasks to do. During the test session, you give the participants the scenarios—either in writing or verbally, one at a time, as the participant is ready to do that scenario.
What makes a good scenario for usability testing?
A good scenario for usability testing gives the participants:
- a goal/task (what to do or what question to find the answer for)
- data, if needed, that a real user would have when going to the site to do that task
You can give the scenario as just the statement of the goal/ task or you can elaborate it a little with a very short story that adds motivation to get to the goal.
Here is an example of a scenario in both forms: brief (no story/motivation) and elaborated (with story/motivation). It comes from a usability test of GSA.gov.
Brief (no story/motivation):
In which government building can you find Bertrand Adams' 1937 painting Early Settlers of Dubuque?
Elaborated (with story/motivation):
Your grandfather told you that he posed for Bertrand Adams when he was painting his large 1937 masterpiece, Early Settlers of Dubuque. You heard that the painting is displayed in a Federal building. In which building can this artwork be found?
Both types (brief and elaborated) work in usability testing. Both seem to elicit desirable behavior from test participants.
Participants enjoy the story-type scenarios, but keep them short. You do not want reading the scenarios to take up much session time. You also want to be sure that all participants understand the scenarios.
What does NOT go in a scenario for usability testing?
The scenarios do not include any information on how to accomplish the task. That is what usability testing is for—to show you how the participant goes about accomplishing the task.
Should you write down how to accomplish the task?
Yes. In the material that observers and note-takers use (but that the participant does not see), it is a good idea to include the pathway (or alternative pathways) to accomplish the task. This helps observers know what to expect and saves considerable time for note-takers.
For example, for the scenario about where to see the Adams painting in Dubuque, we might write down the following pathway where each step assumes a click that moves the participant to a new Web page:
- Home page top tab: "Citizens"
- Right panel: Art
- Left panel: Fine Arts Collection
- Left panel: Inventory Online Database
- Center: Visit Now
- Find: Bertrand Adams
What if you are giving participants choices for answers?
In most usability tests, participants let you know they have successfully done the task by telling you the answer that they found. In some cases, you may want to give participants multiple-choice questions.
If the scenarios are formatted to require participants to answer multiple-choice questions, the possible answers must be given to the participant at the end of the scenario. In the participant's copy, of course, the correct answer is not designated. In the test plan, these questions should be included with the correct answer designated.
For example:
A) Customs Office
B) Federal Correctional Center
C) FBI Office
D) Post Office & Courthouse
What if users have difficulty understanding a scenario?
A good scenario is one that participants understand even if they have difficulty completing the task.
To make sure that your scenarios are clear, try them out in a pilot test. (We discuss pilot testing in the article on how to Conduct the Usability Test.) If you find that participants do not understand a scenario, rewrite it. If you find that many of your scenarios are not clear to participants and that you must rewrite several, do a second pilot test.
Be sure to distinguish between a scenario that is not clear and a task that is difficult. Unclear scenarios do not tell you anything about the usability of the site. Difficult tasks do. Rewrite unclear scenarios. Leave difficult tasks in the usability test if they are going to help you understand how the site needs to be improved.
After running the first test with these scenarios, it is usually a good idea to go back and put a copy of the final set of scenarios (those actually used in the test) into the test plan.
Next steps
Now that you have final scenarios, you should also Recruit Participants. If you have recruited participants, you may be ready to Set Up for the Test Sessions.
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Related Templates & Examples |