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From:
Ron Perkins <[log in to unmask]>
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Date:
Tue, 6 Jun 2006 08:48:23 -0400
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I'd like to correct one statement that you made about me. I have written
about 'attended' remote testing as a method that I believe in, not
'unattended' remote testing.  

One other paper that I gave at EUPA/HCI in London 2002 actually questions
the utility of 'unattended' remote testing and the type of conclusions about
usability that you can make by not directly observing users.

Ron

Ron Perkins, Principal
DesignPerspectives.com
Usability and Interaction Design Consulting
978-465-6083

-----Original Message-----
From: ACM SIGCHI WWW Human Factors (Open Discussion)
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Kay Corry Aubrey
Sent: Monday, June 05, 2006 3:42 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: remote unattended (AKA automated) usability testing software
Importance: Low

Hi Rolf - I am investigating these technologies for background information.
I have not done this type of study myself, so I have no direct experience
with this type of approach. However, it sounds promising.

I have read several articles that lead me to think remote unattended testing
can provide valid & valuable feedback, if the study design and sample
selection are sound. 

Here's one article worth reading on the subject: " An Empirical Comparison
of Lab and Remote Usability Testing of Web Sites" by Tullis, T. S.,
Fleischman, S., McNulty, M., Cianchette, C., and Bergel, M. (2002) Usability
Professionals Association Conference, July 2002, Orlando, FL. (You can get a
.pdf of the article on http://members.aol.com/TomTullis/prof.htm) 

The Fidelity team ran two sets of the same test: one in the lab and the
other using remote unattended techniques. While the remote unattended was
misses the information you get from watching a live user, it offered other
advantages: you can run many more users so you get a wider diversity of
responses, people's comments tended to be very rich and objective, you can
collect other measures more easily such as clickstream, time on task. 

Ron Perkins of Design Perspectives in Newburport, MA has also written
extensively on remote unattended testing. I don't have quick access to his
papers, but you could probably find his work in the ACM Digital Library. 

Kay



-----Original Message-----
From: Rolf Molich [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
Sent: Monday, June 05, 2006 3:01 PM
To: Kay Corry Aubrey; [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: remote unattended (AKA automated) usability testing software

Hi Kay.

I teach my students that they should be very careful with unattended 
usability testing - for various reasons that I consider excellent.

I found your survey interesting because I assume that you would hardly ask 
for tools that support a method that you don't believe in.

So my question is: What data do you have to support the claim that this 
method produces useful results?


Thanks, Rolf

Rolf Molich
DialogDesign
Skovkrogen 3
DK-3660 Stenlose
Denmark

www.DialogDesign.dk     [log in to unmask]     +45 4717 1731

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