Remote Usability Testing
Sunday 4 September 2011 - Filed under Usability News
When we talk about Remote Usability Evaluation we can roughly separate the different types of research into two different categories. The first is a synchronous approach where the facilitator or observer can receive the data and conduct the evaluation in real time with participants that are remote. Depending on what sort of usability testing is being conducted various methods can be used such as user testing surveys, video testing or remote conferencing. Remote applications can also be used like WebEx and Net Meeting.
On the other hand there are Asynchronous methods where the data doesn’t have to be analyzed in real time. Facilitators and observers don’t interact with the testing user during data collection and can be as simple as critical incident user logs and diaries of events. The Asynchronous approach also encompasses automated approaches like Clickstream data and in some cases user testing surveys. This method effectively doesn’t try to collect data from observations as it is self reported but is often viewed as a less intrusive method.
The main advantage of this usability approach is that large groups of users can be sampled for the testing user panel. There are some disadvantages to this statistical approach in that it is sometimes hard to establish a correlation between specific user intentions and specific user actions but in the case of usability surveys and conferencing it can be managed by allowing the user to support their own data with self-reported measures.
The main advantages to this testing user evaluation are cost, time and freedom from facilities.
The most talked about advantage is cost in remote usability testing is considerably cheaper than non-remote testing. The differences are pretty apparent in that if you were to conduct a non-remote user test say in a laboratory there are mostly heavy costs associated. Of course these costs vary by the nature of the usability test but consider a company that wants a considerably sized testing user panel with a wide demographic and your looking at massive facility charges and travel costs not to mention paying the individual participants.
Another advantage is the freedom from facilities. Remote usability testing can be done free from a facility as it is all online. This freedom further allows you to test users from a wider geographical area without dramatically increasing costs.
Finally the time saved with remote user testing. It used to be the case that when setting up a remote user test, usability testers would find that not much time was saved in comparison to a laboratory test or in person user test. Now though the technology is already there and allows for easy access to all components necessary for your own managed testing user analysis.
Overall Remote user testing makes the whole usability process far less alien. It’s cost-effective and invaluable for allowing clients to design products that are suitable for their user needs. The findings can be presented with a range of options that allow clients to make educated and intelligent decisions to get real value and return on their usability investment.
2011-09-04 » Sam
