Designing With People | Putting people at the heart of the design process User experience consultancy & usability training from Userfocus The Vision Council Usability Testing Usability Testing UX Marketplace - Buy and Sell User Experience Design Objects Your Object Title Goes Here Authored by YOU. Price: $TBD. Revenue Potential: Unlimited UX Marketplace™ is built upon a community of UX Experts contributing their knowledge so others can start their work from an advanced position. If you have high quality UX object ideas then you should contact us for an invited author code so your can start publishing objects. If you are a Certified Usability Analyst (CUA) or Certified Experience Architect (CXA) then you may start selling today. Request your Invited Author Number

Seven Common Usability Testing Mistakes By Jared M. Spool Originally published: Feb 15, 2005 What's the easiest way to conduct a usability test? If this is so easy, why does a standard usability test contain all that other rigmarole? Working Towards Informed Decisions When a design has a usability problem, it's because someone made a wrong decision. We consider a usability test to be successful when the design team members receive the information they need to make the right decision. There are two outcomes from poor decisions: either the user experience is worsened because of a change that just shouldn't have happened; or a valuable opportunity is missed to improve the design's user experience. As we work with teams all over the globe, there are mistakes that we see frequently. Mistake #1: Do You Know Why You're Testing? The first mistake we see constantly is teams don't understand when usability testing can help and when it can't. You can avoid this first mistake by being clear what you want to get out of the test.

Guide to Planning and Conducting Usability Tests This document is meant to provide a foundation for your next usability test. Pages found here borrow heavily from Jeffrey Rubin's Handbook of Usability Testing. Overview of the basic usability test Usability tests include the following elements, each of which will be addressed in this document: Develop problem statements or test objectives. Rubin, p. 29-30 Determine which type of usability test to implement Depending on where you are in the design process, there are three types of usability tests to choose from. Exploratory Test: The objective is to explore the user's mental model of the task you're trying to facilitate. When to use: This type of test is usually conducted during the initial phases of a design life-cycle. Assessment Test: This is the most common test conducted. When to use: Normally conducted early or midway through the design of the product. Validation Test: When to use: This test normally takes place close to the release of the product. Rubin, p. 30-42 Develop a test plan

Improving UX with Customer Journey Maps By Jacek Samsel The necessity of providing user satisfaction on every key touchpoint in your business is critical to your success. The issue, however, is identifying those crucial touchpoints. Customer journey maps could be an incredibly helpful solution in this area. Borrowing from Service Design Service design is an activity performed in the marketing and management departments of businesses. In the context of website production, the closest analogy would be user experience design (UX). In a nutshell, service design involves providing or creating positive feelings for customers while they are using the designed service (product), with the focus on the interactions that take place in a variety of channels (which encompasses both the online and offline world). A well-designed website is not enough when the customer’s visit to your brick-and-mortar physical store is an unpleasant experience, or when her tech support call was not satisfactory. What are Touchpoints? The Problem to Solve Tips: