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Usability Evaluation Techniques and Issues
Dr. Larry Wood
Brigham Young University
March 15, 2001 — SurgeWorks, Salt Lake City
Meeting Summary
Dr. Larry Wood led us in an interesting discussion of the issues he encountered while doing usability tests for the BYU library. He used the BYU example to springboard us into a general discussion of usability test issues.
The final slide of his presentation summarizes learnings from the study:
Conclusions
- Need task-specific support (e.g., cues).
- In ambiguous situations, people develop and explore hypotheses based on previous experience. - Avoid using technical terms when possible. Determine what lay terms work.
- Don't seem to need Library of Congress in this case -- led to an inappropriate hypothesis. - Helpful to know what users are thinking and expecting.
Dr. Larry Wood teaches human-computer interaction at BYU. He edited the book User Interface Design: Bridging the Gap from User Requirements to Design.