Usability vs Beta Testing (The What & When)UX Sisters: A User Research Life If you work in software and product development (or are stumbling around a UX blog…) you’ve probably heard about usability testing and beta testing. They sound kind of useful and buzzwordy, but what do they actually mean? Are they even different from each other in any meaningful way? Usability Testing Usability testing is the process of watching an actual user use your product/screen/app to see if it’s usable. What does that mean? Some say that usability testing is too contrived to be useful because it forces a user to concentrate on a task more than they typically would. When to usability test: During a design phase, gathering baseline data, or when you have a question you want to answer. Usability testing is great when a team has a design that hasn’t yet been fully developed but would benefit from some exposure to real users. It’s also great to simply sit down with users and ask them questions before the design phase has even begun. Usability testing is also helpful if you: Beta Testing
Guerilla Research Tactics and Tools I was recently in a project meeting in which several stakeholders were drawn into an argument over a homepage design. As the UX professional in the room, I pointed out that we aren’t our users, and suggested we invest a few weeks into research to learn what users are really doing. The project lead rejected the idea, deeming that we didn’t have time for research. Instead we’d just have to rely on assumptions, debate and ‘best practice’. Many UX practitioners can relate to this scenario. The need to stay competitive forces agencies, freelancers and internal teams to reduce budgets however they can. The problem is that cutting research often results in usability disasters. In times like these we need guerrilla research. The concept of guerrilla research isn’t new. Research smart, research fast Limited budgets require us to be very efficient, and a traditional UX research phase can be very involved. Let’s refer back to the meeting I had, discussing my client’s homepage design. Online tools
Replacing Personas With Characters — down the rabbit hole With some anxieties and motivations defined, let’s move to Purchase-Progress Events. Purchase-Progress Events While your Characters are going about their life with their motivations and anxieties, they are going to experience particular events which will pull them toward a purchase. These are Purchase-Progress Events. Here are the Purchase-Progress Events I experienced: Lately, male celebrities and actors in movies have been wearing more alternative tuxedos — most notably created by Tom Ford. Leading up to the purchase, I saw advertisements for the latest James Bond movie. I recently read an article in GQ magazine on how to buy a tux. So far, I’ve been experiencing Purchase-Progress Events through the lens of my anxieties and motivations. Purchase-Progress Situations Purchase-Progress Events are passive. Here are the ones I encountered: I had just got married and I met a lot of people. In both cases, I had to make a decision: I have to use a tux in the future, will I buy or rent it?
Designing For The Elderly: Ways Older People Use Digital Technology Differently If you work in the tech industry, it’s easy to forget that older people exist. Most tech workers are really young1, so it’s easy to see why most technology is designed for young people. But consider this: By 2030, around 19% of people in the US will be over 652. This seems unfortunate when you consider all of the things technology has to offer older people. CNA – Speaking Exchange (watch the video on YoutTube4) While the ageing process is different for everyone, we all go through some fundamental changes. But ageing makes some things harder as well, and one of those things is using technology. (How old is old? Vision And Hearing From the age of about 40, the lens of the eye begins to harden, causing a condition called “presbyopia.” Color vision also declines with age, and we become worse at distinguishing between similar colors. Hearing also declines in predictable ways, and a large proportion of people over 65 have some form of hearing loss10. Key lessons: Motor Control Device Use Memory