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Ryan West <[log in to unmask]>
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Wed, 14 Jun 2006 08:47:22 -0400
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Hi Todd -

Thank you for your questions.  In your reply, I think you make good recommendations for when someone should choose to conduct a formative study over a summative study.  

To be clear though, our study is about remote and unattended approaches to conducting summative studies - not formative studies.  It is not about the merits of and comparisons between formative and summative studies

Also...
<Todd>* You're putting a section at the top of the browser window, which  
>takes up space away from the application, which could have negative  
>impact on the application use (Do they see items that are not above  
>the fold, which would be above the fold in the real world where that  
>extra screen real estate isn't taken away?)</Todd>

Perhaps you're thinking of another study but we did not put a section at the top of the browser for Participant feedback for that reason among others.

Thanks
- Ryan

Ryan West | User Researcher | SAS Institute | (001) 919.531.0933

________________________________________
> Date: Sun, 11 Jun 2006 15:34:27 -0400
> From: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: remote unattended (AKA automated) usability testing software
> To: [log in to unmask]
> 
> On Jun 8, 2006, at 11:01 AM, Ryan West wrote:
> 
> > If you're interested primarily in well defined performance metrics  
> > (for baselining for example) it makes no difference whether the  
> > study is administered by a flesh and blood facilitator or a program
> 
> Only if you define performance strictly on a quantitative basis. Not  
> if you're qualifying performance w/qualitative metrics. More and  
> more, we're finding that qualitative is more reliable or has greater  
> impact on performance and experience than just relying on  
> quantitative data. We're finding more and more participants not  
> completing tasks because the experience is bad, or thinking they've  
> completed a task, but not actually completing a task because the  
> experience doesn't have a true "finished" indicator.
> 
> > Test setting does appear to make a difference however.  We found  
> > that a group tested remotely had faster completion times and were  
> > more likely to give up on a task - but were not less successful or  
> > less satisfied.  We tend to believe people are a bit more cautious  
> > and deliberate in a usability lab which accounts for the setting  
> > differences.
> >
> > Also, "usability issues" are a bit more nebulous than performance  
> > metrics.  We found a much richer set of issues in lab testing with  
> > a facilitator than when analyzing written comments after unattended  
> > testing.  We developed a means that allowed participants to  
> > identify their root cause of problems when they failed a task which  
> > was very effective but they still documented less issues.
> 
> I've read this study and I think there were a few issues w/the way  
> the testing was done. If I understand the report correctly, the lab  
> testing had the moderator placed in the other room behind the mirror,  
> not in the room w/the participant. So, basically, the participant was  
> on their own in the room w/a test script, or description of the task  
> to be tested.
> 
> This concerns me a bit, as one of the key elements in usability  
> testing is the dialogue between the moderator and participant. For  
> instance, when we run usability tests, the script is more of an open  
> guideline. We have tasks we need to test, but the framing of the task  
> is dependent upon the conversation between the moderator and the  
> participant.
> 
> For example, last year we did testing for a hosted service provider  
> in the financial industry. Each conversation with the participants  
> started of talking about one of their "deals" they had been working  
> on. We used this information to structure the task based specifically  
> on the "deal" they had been working on. So, for each participant, it  
> was contextually specific to one of their actual projects. This makes  
> it more real world.
> 
> How would this work in with the model you used in testing?
> 
> Also, in the study you provided a "note" area for the unattended  
> tests. It's pretty common knowledge in our field that self-rating is  
> unreliable. So, you're still not able to address the issue of a  
> participant thinking they've completed the task, but not actually  
> completing it. Additionally, you're not able to find out why they  
> didn't complete the task if you're not there observing. While the  
> note taking area does provide some value for unattended participants  
> to provide feedback, I would expect that you'd have issues of:
> * Making them provide written feedback is extra time and effort,  
> which would eventually lose value in that you'd find less rich  
> feedback as participants want to just get it done (Ugh, I have to  
> write out my response again! This is like an essay test in university)
> * You're putting a section at the top of the browser window, which  
> takes up space away from the application, which could have negative  
> impact on the application use (Do they see items that are not above  
> the fold, which would be above the fold in the real world where that  
> extra screen real estate isn't taken away?)
> 
> Each of these things changes the real environment into something  
> else. So, you're not testing the true testing environment anymore.  
> This might not be an issue for basic things like signing into an  
> application, but for more involved transactions and processes, you  
> can see where this method wouldn't be recommended.
> 
> Cheers!
> 
> Todd R. Warfel
> Partner, Design & Usability Specialist
> Messagefirst | designing and usability consulting
> --------------------------------------
> Contact Info
> Voice:    (607) 339-9640
> Email:    [log in to unmask]
> AIM:       [log in to unmask]
> Blog:      http://toddwarfel.com
> --------------------------------------
> In theory, theory and practice are the same.
> In practice, they are not.
> 
> 
> 
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