Survey Research and Testing your users
Monday 5 September 2011 - Filed under Usability News
The World wide web has allowed Usability Testing and User Testing surveys to become more comprehensive and beneficial than ever before. The savings that can be made in both time and money compared to conventional usability testing methods are substantial.
User surveys allow for a systematic review employing standardized interviews as well as questionnaires that collect the different views of a wide range of participants. They therefore sidestep the restrictions associated with using a modified peer review procedure with a smaller testing panel. Quantitative indices can be formed through scoring and scale methodology, therefore providing a comprehensive outlook for making usability decisions.
The reputation of many web based surveys a few years ago was that for the savings in time and money you had to sacrifice quality and quantity, where you are exposed to common user errors that don’t allow for any substantial feedback. Today though we have witnessed impressive advancements in survey software that allow for comprehensive managed data collection. The problems of earlier years have gone with missing data, confusing responses and web abuse now a thing of the past.
Surveys can now be tailored towards specific investigations both on a narrow and broad range of topics giving your organization access to a large Testing user panel that are well motivated and familiar with the software and processes employed by web surveys.
The presentation aspect has changed substantially. Organizations can now expect custom made, board room ready formats that are affordable to both small and large corporations alike. The data that comes back from the user testing panel is analyzed and formatted into a Testing user report that has nothing to envy from an academic publication.
Testing users can also be selected from a massive web population. This allows for testers to be selected from a very wide demographic, allowing the company or organization to escape the stereotypical male teenage web user if that is not what is required.
With regards to cost savings, usability testing surveys are essential paperless and furthermore definitely don’t burden you with the heavy costs of usability consultancy where expensive lab conditions and testing methods may be employed to often achieve similar statistics and conclusions as Testing user surveys.
The dynamism and interactive nature of the surveys also adds to the Testing user experience. Feedback can be displayed in a way that is tailored to the testing user responses. Clearly displayed in both graphics and text you will receive an analysis report that gives you instant feedback and statistical summaries. The client no longer has to have an in house usability expert needed to instruct us on every area of analysis. Usability Testing surveys are comprehensive and clear enough to advise any business or organization that wants to address it’s usability issues.`
With regards to privacy and data protection concerns you may have, our Testing user panel is subject to a confidentiality agreement and a disclaimer limiting your risk to far less than if you were to physically publish and distribute user survey material.
You can rest assured an have confidence in the integrity of the data collected by Testing users.
2011-09-05 » Sam
