Usability Testing Methods and Usability Laboratory Management

Abstract

Usability testing of software products is of key importance nowadays. In order for usability testing to have the desired effect, the appropriate testing methodology must be chosen. Usability testing can be carried out using qualitative or quantitative methods. A widely used qualitative method today is the heuristic evaluation proposed by Jacob Nielsen. However, there are other testing methods such as cognitive walkthrough or collaborative testing (proposed by Josef Pavlicek and R. Bock). Although heuristic analysis has generally received a lot of attention in the current literature, it is important to put the other methods in the right light. These provide a significantly better view of the user’s passage through the interface under test. The methods better simulate the environment in which the final UI will operate. The user experience (UX) is then significantly better measurable if the participant goes through the test scenario in a cognitive (i.e., mental model-defined) way, rather than by mere heuristic evaluation. A significant milestone is then the cognitive-collaborative passage, where the collaborative element of the evaluators contributes to the evaluation of the solution.