CONDUCTING A TEST #1

Deciding on the type of test.

Deciding upon what type of test to do: The stage of product development will often dictate which type of usability testing will be conducted. [The following descriptions of different stages can be found in.]

Exploratory testing can be done with users at the very preliminary stages of design. At this stage the design team is collecting information on the validity of the user profile (already developed) and what the users' mental model of the product is. This can be accomplished by having the user walk the team through the tasks with a prototype. The team could probe the user for information on user expectations and how the product should react in different situations (Rubin 1994).

Assessment test is the most common and simplest test which could be conducted early or midway into the product development cycle. This type of test would be done after the exploratory testing had occurred and the basic structure of the product has been established. It would involve users completing realistic tasks. The goals would be to capture information on users behaviour with the product and how well they can perform while using it (Rubin 1994).

Rubin (1994) also describes a validation test and comparison test. A validation test is used to measure a product against a standard or benchmark. A comparison test can be conducted in lieu of the 3 previously mentioned tests and compares two or more products.

Both the exploratory and assessment tests involve gathering information and results by observing users and can be loosely known as observational testing.