Usability Questions

I’ve done a bit of usability testing over the course of my career–likely topping 1000 sessions–but recently learned that a lot of my Usability Testing peers never make it out of the Lab Testing Set up.  Out of necessity (THE Mother of All Invention) and a personal drive to understand how things work in a natural setting…   

I try to do usability testing in the most realistic environments, even if it requires me to have my remote note taking team hanging out in cafes or common spaces in buildings connected wirelessly via local wireless networks, and conference bridges.  Some Usability Peers find this really bizarre. 

In my situation the centralized “testing lab” metaphor doesn’t really work…   Our users are all over the place and highly specialized, flying them all to a lab is really expensive not to mention a huge opportunity cost since they’re not doing what they’re paid to do nor bringing in revenue.      

To test pages, I feel that I need to see them in the context of someone’s life–or as close to it as possible.  Some people see my style as a bit like reality TV.  No cushy labs with one-way mirrors, smoked glass, fridges or bars.  Very much like Contextual Inquiry…  Just the facilitator, the user/participant and a team behind the scenes somewhere on the planet… 

Anyone else out there doing this kind of work? 

A colleague recently asked me why I would choose to do Usability Testing over an Ethnographic Study?   I gave them several reasons for my selection to go with Usability Testing, namely it’s ability to give evaluative, quantitative, time-based information within a few weeks of project kick-off.  But what are all the reasons why one would choose Usability Testing over Ethnography? Or vice versa?

I’m pleased to see my SAP Colleagues conducting usability testing on new product enhancements. Check out this link about their work at a recent customer event!