POINTS TO REMEMBER

1. Any usability testing utilizing whatever people you can get is better than no testing at all.
2. A usability test does not have to take 3 months and be very expensive. Testing should be tailored to the budget and time available.
3. A laboratory isn't necessary, but a private space is needed to reduce interuptions and to make the participants more comfortable.
4. A video camera (nothing fancy) is an invaluable piece of equipment and should be used if available.  It provides powerful information to use to convince the design team of problems or successes.
5. In order to change the way products are developed to include usability testing/iterative design, a company must change their mind set about how they do development. This requires a drastic change and can only happen slowly, so every little step counts. In order for this change to happen good results must come from the usability team and they must educate the rest of the company on the benefits of their work.
6. Although a thorough test plan is ideal, since it can act as a template for future studies and is proof to other groups and to management that what you are doing requires a lot of preparation, a sketchy checklist of responsibilities and things to do for everyone will be better than nothing.