User Testing

For this part of the class project, we will be conducting user testing of the Volunteer Center web site.

Recruitment Process

  1. Each student is expected to conduct a user test for one participant.
  2. We will be using a shared researcher account in the Sona participant scheduling system. The login is haskell_psy411. The password was provided to you separately for security reasons.
  3. I have set up all the study info in Sona.
  4. You are responsible for posting your own time slot based on your availability. The time slot will need to be 30 minutes in length. You can choose any on-campus location to conduct the test so long as it is reasonably quiet so the user will be able to concentrate.
  5. If your time slot doesn’t fill, just post another one farther into the future.

At the Test Session

  1. If you would rather not print your own copies of the materials, packets of materials can be picked up from the student pick-up box in the Psych Department office. They are in an envelope labeled “Haskell PSY 411 User Testing.”
  2. Provide the user with the consent form. If they agree to participate, have them sign and date.
  3. If consent was provided, present the participant with the set of tasks. Remind the user to think aloud as they complete the tasks.
  4. As they work through the tasks, complete a logging sheet recording time taken, success/failure, and interesting observations.
    • For the task of responding to an opportunity, it’s really important that they respond to our “fake” opportunity and not to an actual opportunity that someone else has posted. So, if they don’t find the correct opportunity for task 4, just tell them what it is for purposes of doing task 5 (signing up).
    • We need to keep the whole session to 30 minutes or less, so if the participant gets really stuck on a task, it’s okay to give them a hint (which you would log as partial success) or just move on (which you would log as unsuccessful).
  5. After the participant is finished with the tasks, ask them to fill out the System Usability Scale.
  6. Make sure to deactivate the account they created for task 4. Instructions for doing that are provided in the researcher version of the tasks.

After the Test Session

  1. Make sure to give the participant credit in Sona.
  2. Turn in the consent form, your logging sheet, and the completed System Usability Scale.