[WG: Sakai QA] QA and user testing

[Daphne Ogle]

I agree with Clay that user testing (around Forums or other) could be  
a good collaborative best practice effort for the UX community to  
rally around.  I heard lots of interest in gearing this group up again  
at the conference.  What say you all? :)

We did/do a significant amount of distributed user testing on Fluid.    
I think we could use that structure, process, documentation, etc. as a  
model for getting started in this community.  I'd be happy (and look  
forward) to working with others to make this happen (create protocols,  
etc.), particularly if we can push it off until September.

Some links of interest:

- General user testing information in the Fluid Design Handbook:   http://wiki.fluidproject.org/display/fluid/Design+Handbook
- Specific examples of testing done in Fluid (see any in the completed  
list):   http://wiki.fluidproject.org/display/fluid/Fluid+User+Testing

The basic process was:
-  identify goals and success criteria
-  create protocol & supplemental documentation (consent forms,  
demographic questionnaire, post-test questionnaire, etc.)
-  testers at various institutions run users through protocol &  
document results on shared space
-  analysis, summaries and suggested enhancements worked on  
collaboratively with team involved (share out - either via posting to  
wiki or a quick presentation)

If we wanted to follow this model we need 2 or 3 (including someone  
from the Forum project) for the 1st 2 activities.  Then we could have  
a wide net of testers that have less time to commit yet want to be  
involved and gain insight into use on their campus.  I think we would  
also want commitment from that group to be part of activity 4.

Thoughts?  Interested parties?

-Daphne

On Jul 28, 2009, at 10:00 AM, Clay Fenlason wrote:

> About the timeframe, if the testing could be conducted during some
> stretch of September - October, that would be ideal.  Added to which,
> there are other UI changes in the offing, I don't mean to single out
> only Forums, and it might be good to look at a larger set of UI
> changes that might benefit from this sort of analysis.
>
> ~Clay
>
> On Mon, Jul 27, 2009 at 5:28 PM, Daphne  
> Ogle<daphne at media.berkeley.edu> wrote:
>> I think this is a great idea!  What is the timeline on this work?
>>
>> There is some set up work for either a review or user testing  
>> (scenarios,
>> tasks, criteria - the user stories?) which I can't commit to right  
>> now but
>> once set up, I can probably do either a review or even grab a  
>> couple users
>> to run them through the test.
>>
>> Btw -- this would be great activity to include as part of the  
>> development
>> process and council review.
>>
>> -Daphne
>>
>> On Jul 27, 2009, at 10:40 AM, Clay Fenlason wrote:
>>
>>> I was reviewing the excellent documentation for a set of Forums UI
>>> changes (see http://confluence.sakaiproject.org/x/EoLgAw), and it
>>> reminded me of an old idea. We tend to test for technical failure
>>> foremost, but the main claim of the Forums UI work is that it  
>>> improves
>>> usability. It would seem to me sound QA practice to test this, using
>>> community expertise in good user testing practice.  Could this be an
>>> area where the UX group and QA WG could join forces? Would anyone  
>>> like
>>> to take a look at proposed 2.7 changes that have a clear UI impact  
>>> and
>>> conduct reviews or testing along these lines?
>>>
>>> There's something that may feel a little misplaced in vetting a  
>>> design
>>> when development has been essentially completed, I know, but I think
>>> it would help the community to have strong confirmation of the
>>> imagined benefits, and if there are still small rough edges to  
>>> smooth
>>> over it may not be too late to address, say, CSS and HTML during QA.
>>>
>>> ~Clay
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>>
>> Daphne Ogle
>> Senior Interaction Designer
>> University of California, Berkeley
>> Educational Technology Services
>> daphne at media.berkeley.edu
>> cell (925)348-4372
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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Daphne Ogle
Senior Interaction Designer
University of California, Berkeley
Educational Technology Services
daphne at media.berkeley.edu
cell (925)348-4372