Web Manager University – Spring 2009
Class Title: Quick, Easy & Insightful: Conducting Usability Testing in the Wild
| Class Format: | Webinar | about our webinars |
| Instructor: | Dana Chisnell, Usability Works | |
| Date | Wednesday, June 3, 2009 | |
| Time: | 1:00 – 3:00 pm (ET) | |
| Place: | Online Webinar* |
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| Fee: | $50 federal, state, or local U.S. government; $75 for non–government |
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Register for this webinar (registration form hosted by a third–party vendor)
Webinar Description
There are those that believe that usability testing must be scientific, and that takes time and money. But useful insights can come just by having the chance to observe participants in the most informal of settings, such as cafés, trade shows, and the company cafeteria. It's possible to get valid, useful results without traditional testing methods.
In this presentation, usability testing expert Dana breaks down the process of collecting user research data, exploring the essentials and the nice-to-haves.
This presentation is perfect for those who have never conducted a usability test, but experienced practitioners will get new ideas, too.
What You'll Learn
- What the minimal steps of usability testing are
- Where the value comes from in doing usability tests
- Where it may be risky to go minimalist
- How to think about the trade-offs
- What's essential and what might be nice to have
Topics
- Minimal steps to focus on
- Where the value comes from in testing in the wild
- Where it may be risky to go minimalist
- How to think about the trade-offs
- What's essential
- What might be nice to have
Agenda
| 1:05 – 1:10 |
What is a usability test |
| 1:10 – 1:30 | Minimal steps |
| 1:30 – 1:40 | Value |
| 1:40 – 1:50 | Risks |
| 1:50 – 2:00 | Trade-offs |
| 2:00 – 2:15 | Q&A |
| 2:15 – 2:25 | Essentials |
| 2:25 – 2:40 | Nice to have |
| 2:40 – 2:45 | Summary |
| 2:45 – 3:00 | Q&A and wrap up |
Who Should Attend
People who have never performed a usability test, those who have only done usability testing in a lab, and those who have varied experience with user research and usability testing should all get good things out of the session.
Level of Webinar
Intermediate
Webinar Format
This is an online webinar. Participants will have an opportunity to ask questions and share examples at the end of the presentation.
About the Instructor
Dana Chisnell is an independent usability consultant and user researcher who
founded UsabilityWorks in San Francisco, CA. She has been doing usability research, user interface design, and technical communications consulting and development since 1982.
Dana took part in her first usability test in 1983 while she was working as a research assistant at the Document Design Center. It was on a mainframe office system developed by IBM. Since then, she has worked with hundreds of study participants, for dozens of clients, to learn about design issues in software, hardware, web sites, online services, games, and ballots (and probably other things that are better forgotten about).
She has helped companies like Yahoo!, Intuit, AARP, Wells Fargo, E*TRADE, Sun Microsystems, and RLG (now OCLC) perform usability tests and other user research to inform and improve the designs of their products and services.
She wrote Handbook of Usability Testing Second Edition with Jeff Rubin (Wiley, 2008).
Dana's colleagues consider her an expert in usability issues for older adults and plain language. (She says she's still learning.) Lately, she has been working on issues related to ballot design and usability and accessibility in voting.
She's an STC Fellow and a long-time member of the Usability Professional's Association and ACM SIGCHI.Return to the Spring 2009 Schedule of Classes
Page Updated or Reviewed: January 7, 2009
