Usability Test and Report

Assignment: Usability Test and Report

ENG 3100, Fall 2016
November 1, 2016
Overview
Usability is an incredible interdisciplinary topic that draws upon techniques and research from across a wide
variety of disciplines. Often when companies or organizations create documentation or products they conduct a
sweeping away of usability tests to ensure that the materials they are producing meet the needs of their audience.
Your Task
Now that youve completed a draft of your product instructions, you are going to conduct a basic usability test
and compose a 2 page usability report. Specifically, you will be conducting a think-aloud user protocol test,
which asks an individual to use your instructions to assemble the lego product you have designed. Your goal is to
record their progress through this test without directly interfering or aiding them in the process of constructing
your product.
NOTE: Your grade is in no way tied to whether or not your audience can effectively re-create your product, so
there is no incentive to cheat or guide their actions. The most important part of this process is to identify
specific places in your instructions that might require clarification or revision.
The Process
Gather together in your groups and select one member who will act as though they have had no exposure to your
design previously (you also have the option to recruit an individual outside of your group or outside of the class,
but this is not required). Give that individual a print copy of the instructions and ask them to read through and
use the instructions to assemble your product. Ask them to think aloud as they construct the product,
essentially having them speak to their thought processes as they work to complete the task. The remainder of
your group should act as observers and record your observations. In other words, write down what the participant
says or record their actions using a smartphone or other device. When they have successfully completed the task
(or when they reach a roadblock that is impossible for them to solve without further guidance) then your user
protocol test will be complete.
After completing the user protocol test, you will then need to compose a usability report that describes the test
you conducted as well as the outcomes and results. Your usability report should contain at minimum the
following major sections:
Introduction
o Introduce your task by describing the goal of the user protocol test and discuss what you hope to
accomplish by having completed the user protocol test.
Methods
o This section should describe your method of data collection. In other words, it should in some
detail discuss how the user protocol test was set up. Where was the test conducted? What was
the task that users were asked to complete? How did you record your observations?
Results
o Describe the test as it unfolded. Use your observations to construct a narrative that encapsulates
the user protocol test and goes step by step through the actions of the participant and the places
in which they encountered difficulties.
Implications
o Drawing upon the results you described, what revisions or changes might be necessary to make
to your instructions? How might you solve, hypothetically, the problems that your participant
encountered? What do your observations suggest about creating effective documentation?
Conclusion
o This section should revisit your major findings and summarize the steps you will be taking as
you move forward in revising and improving the instructions that you have created for this
assignment.

Usability Test and Report

Format
The report must be a minimum of 2 pages, single spaced using block formatting.
Make use of headings and subheadings throughout your report (hint: you should not only use headings
for the major sections, but for individual portions of those sections. In other words, your results section
might have multiple sub-headings.
Your language should be formal and reflect the fact that this testing was conducted by a team.
Feel free to use bullets when necessary, but do not overuse them purely for the purpose of adding length
to your report.
Even though this is a vastly abridged usability test, take the design and composition of this report
seriously. It is a major component of your final group evaluation.
TL;DR
Conduct a think-aloud user protocol test as described in The Process section of this document.
Record your observations of your participant.
Analyze your findings from the test.
Compose a detailed report on the test and its implications.
Submit the usability test along with your instructions packet and audience analysis sheet on Monday,
August 1.
Due Dates
Date for Usability Test
Draft of Usability Report:
Final Usability Report :
Portfolio Draft:

Thursday, November 3
Thursday, November 10
Thursday, November 17
Due with ePortfolio