Day 3: Honing Your Usability Testing Skills

Janice (Ginny) Redish, Redish & Associates

Usability testing is the best way to find out if what you are developing works for users. Most companies, universities, and government agencies are regularly conducting usability tests. But many clients tell us they need help. Every week we hear questions like these: Are we getting the most out of every test? Are we as prepared as we should be? Is our design team receiving the information they need from the test results?

• An intranet manager at a major insurance company is constantly battling her IT department because the IT managers don't realize what the intranet users are going through. She'd like to know how to get her IT managers on the same page.
• A product manager making sophisticated security software is in the process of overhauling their flagship product's user interface. He's on a tight schedule and needs to collect usability data quickly and efficiently.
• An MIS analyst at a small mid-western university is chartered with making the university's web site the best it could be. Having never thought about usability before, she now has to conduct her first tests and make the results relevant to the dozens of stakeholders.

The better our skills are at conducting usability tests, the more valuable the results will be to our organizations. What can we do to hone our usability testing skills?

To answer that question, we turned to Ginny Redish to present her popular seminar on Day 3 of the UIE Roadshow. Ginny has put together a fabulous seminar designed explicitly to improve your usability testing skills. As one of the premier usability experts in the field, Ginny Redish has helped dozens of companies and agencies bring usability testing into their processes. Whether you've been conducting usability tests for years or you're just starting out, you'll learn insightful tips and effective techniques from her years of experience.

In this session, you'll learn:

• Which type of test is right for your project? How to tell if your current project will get the most out of baseline testing, diagnostic testing, summative testing, or comparative testing.
• Techniques for starting with the team's issues. Learn to help your team articulate their issues at the level you need.
• How to recruit the right users. You'll see some simple techniques for writing a good screening questionnaire that quickly identifies the perfect participants.
• What makes a good test scenario? Ginny will show you how to write scenarios that get you the answers you're seeking. You'll review examples of both good and poor scenarios.
• How to become a better facilitator. Testing is stressful and foreign to the test participants. You'll learn proven techniques for keeping the participants relaxed while they share their frustrations and delights with the design.
• More effective note-taking techniques. Our notes contain the golden nuggets that make testing worthwhile. Ginny will show you her proven tricks for capturing the important events during the session.
• The best ways to analyze the test results. You'll see how to decide what to report and how it can best help your particular audience, whether it's senior management or members of the technical staff.
• The “Doctrine of No Surprise.” Ginny will share this critical rule-of-thumb and how it can help you increase the impact of your reports and presentations.

Ginny knows that the best way to hone your skills is to have constant practice. That's why this seminar is packed with hands-on exercises. With her case studies, you'll have ample opportunities to:

• Find and refine issues to test and develop profiles for recruiting appropriate participants.
• Write test scenarios to uncover the key problems in the current design
• Practice your skills as a facilitator, observer, and even a user!
• Learn critical note-taking techniques, such as how to separate observations from inferences
• Put together the test results and evaluate what makes an effective report
• Look at how to change the development process to reduce usability problems in the future

This seminar has plenty of discussion time built in – it's critical to ensure you can adapt these new techniques to your own practice. You'll have the opportunity to describe your biggest issues and have complete access to Ginny's years of expertise. After all, she wrote the book on usability testing.

Who Should Attend

This is the best usability testing refresher you can ever attend. It's perfect for product managers, designers, engineers, and technical writers who are just starting out with usability tests. Or, if you have already conducted some tests but want to refine and hone your skills, attending this course is a great way to ensure you get the most out of each test. This will be one of the most valuable courses you'll ever take.

Plus, a detailed seminar booklet!

In addition to the entertaining presentation, discussions, and interactive exercises, you will receive a detailed seminar booklet, including all of the slides. An appendix in the seminar booklet includes many samples and examples, such as a screening questionnaire, confirmation letter, release form for videotaping, note-taking template, and so on, that you can use or adapt for your own usability tests.

UIE Roadshow Seminar Recommendations: If you're interested in Ginny’s full-day seminar, you’ll want to kick-off your week at Kate Gomoll and Ellen Story’s Field Research seminar on Day 1. You’ll also want to attend Kim Goodwin’s Persona Development seminar on Day 2 of the Roadshow.

Registration Pricing: Sign up now and attend one seminar in Washington, DC for $529, two seminars for $908, and all 3 seminars for just $1,167 - a savings of more than $100 off the final walk-in price. Or, sign up your entire team for even lower pricing! Register Now.