Usability lab

Key takeaways

Usability lab belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Usability lab to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Usability lab from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

A usability lab is a place where usability testing is done. It is an environment where users are studied interacting with a system for the sake of evaluating the system's usability. Depending on the kind of system that is evaluated, the user sits in front of a personal computer or stands in front of the systems interface, alongside a facilitator who gives the user tasks to perform. Behind a one-way mirror, a number of observers watch the interaction, make notes, and ensure the activity is recorded. Very often the testing and the observing room are not placed alongside. In this case the video and audio observation are transmitted through a (wireless) network and broadcast via a video monitor or video beamer and loudspeakers. Usually, sessions will be filmed and the software will log interaction details. A modern alternative is online user testing via video and screen recording. When user testing online and in-person are not feasible, for example because long-term user testing feedback is required and recruitment for repeated sessions poses a barrier, user journaling is an alternative method for collecting user test data.

Benefits of usability testing Usability is defined by how effectively users can use a product, a brochure, application, website, software package, or video game to achieve their goals. Usability testing is a practice used within the field of user-centered design and user experience that allows for the designers to interact with the users directly about the product to make any necessary modifications to the prototype of the product, whether it be software, a device, or a website. The purpose of the practice is to discover any missed requirements or any kind of development that was seen to be intuitive but ended up confusing new users. By testing user needs and how they interact with the product, designers are able to assess on the product's capacity to meet its intended purpose. Usability labs help optimize UI designs, work flows, understanding the voice of the customers, and understanding what customers really do. Through in-lab sessions at a specified location, designers, stakeholders and anyone else involved in the project, are observing the process of how a customer interacts with the current prototype. To understand user needs, engineers must observe people while they are actually using computer systems and collect data from on system usability. In-lab usability testing usually has small and specific sample sizes to better obtain qualitative data on the product. The participants cooperate with engineers to understand how the user interacts with the system being tested through hands-on testing. "Through this process, developers are able to identify issues with the product. To aid fixing any problems, observers pay strict attention to:

Learn if participants are able to complete specified tasks successfully Identify how long it takes to complete specified tasks Find out how satisfied participants are with your Web site or other product Identify changes required to improve user performance and satisfaction Analyze the performance to see if it meets your usability objectives"

Usability and user experience User experience is important to customer response in the market. The causes of failed designs and ad design decisions can usually be attributed to a lack of information. A poor user experience can ruin a product launch, drive users away for good and impact the reputation of a company.

Lab-based testing environment Usability tests are both formal and informal attempts to gather data about how users experience interfaces (Angelo), devices, software, sites, and many more. Usability tests have a wide range of involvement in other fields of product development.

Tools and technology Usability labs usually feature two rooms. One room containing the lab with the system being tested for usability and all the other necessary equipment such as video and audio recording devices or eye motion trackers. Here, the participant is asked to come in and they are provided tasks to complete to test specific ideas of the product, but sometimes are allowed to explore the product by trying what a certain feature does.

Audience In formal labs, there is typically a second room with a one-way mirror. Here, the observation room is held that allows stakeholders, designers, developers, and other parties involved in the project to observe and understand that some things they might have found to be intuitive among their team to actually be more complex than the feature had to be.

Recruiting participants Choosing participants for lab testing involves consideration. Not just anyone is a suitable participant for the in-lab test. It is vital to recruit participants who are similar to the site users for usability testing. Developers and designers are not the users, so refrain from using internal staff as participants unless the individual has had no involvement in the design or development of the site or product and they represent a target audience. It is also a good idea to compensate participants for taking time out of their schedule to involve their self in a voluntary experiment; however, there are restrictions. For example, federal employees cannot be paid for their time. The number of users to test is also an important consideration when recruiting participants. Usability tests cost money and resources which is unfortunately very limited, especially with smaller-scaled projects. One effective approach is to consider using five participants. "Zero users give you zero insights." The moment a single user has been observed in a lab setting, insight on the product is immediately gained. Features in the current design need to be redesigned and revisited to essentially fix anything that was not helping users with their experience. However, there is a limit to how many users should be considered because "as you add more and more users, you learn less and less because you will keep seeing the same things again and again."

What to look for during testing User research is the process of observing and understanding how people interact with different objects in everyday life. These can range anywhere from websites and software products to hardware and other gadgets.

Different techniques Think-aloud experiments Contextual interviews Concurrent probing Retrospective probing First click testing Focus groups Individual interviews Online surveys Task analysis

References

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Usability lab

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Usability lab claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Usability lab before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Usability lab ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Usability lab

In research: Usability lab appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Usability lab in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Usability lab is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Laboratory types, Usability, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Usability lab outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

How to study Usability lab in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Usability lab means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Usability lab out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Usability lab in simple terms?

A usability lab is a place where usability testing is done. It is an environment where users are studied interacting with a system for the sake of evaluating the system's usability.

Why does Usability lab matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Usability lab?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Usability lab.