Typically, in software and web site development, when budgets or timelines get cut, the first activity to fall off the project plan is usability research. Project teams know it is important, however the perceived cost, is seen to outweigh the benefits of testing and validating, especially when the launch date is looming. The problem is when your projects deal with innovative or unconventional interfaces, involving users in the design process is often the best method (and cheapest in the long run) for ensuring a successful outcome.
Therefore removing steps and streamlining the usability research has become a priority. Guerilla or discounted usability testing is nothing new, in fact Jacob Nielson wrote about it in 1994 (http://www.useit.com/papers/guerrilla_hci.html). Although, at SolutionSet we are taking the principles of down and dirty testing and marrying them with new technologies to offer solutions that reduce budgets and provide quicker turnaround. For example, on a recent project the goal was to test new interaction models that had been depicted in a set of wireframes. The best way to test interaction is through a clickable prototype, but we did not have the time to create an html prototype from scratch. So we used Visio’s built-in hyperlink functionality to connect up the storyboarded wireframes and saved the file as HTML. We look forward to using Adobe’s Flash Catalyst ,in a similar manner, to transform creative comps into interactive prototypes.
Renting a Usability Lab and video equipment can be another expense that puts project teams off doing research. However, there are some exciting new budget-friendly screen capture and remote usability testing alternatives available. Recently SolutionSet used Clearleft’s Silverback software installed on a laptop to capture participant’s facial expressions and screen interactions. Silverback then allows you to export the recordings into professional looking picture-in-picture QuickTime videos to share with the team. Using Silverback does not provide the opportunity for project stakeholders to observe the testing real-time behind one-way glass. However, it does alow you to conduct the research in remote or more informal environments. Also, in our next round of research we plan on using a screen sharing application to allow others to observe the sessions remotely. Will let you know how it works out.
