Book Image

Remote Usability Testing

By : Inge De Bleecker, Rebecca Okoroji
Book Image

Remote Usability Testing

By: Inge De Bleecker, Rebecca Okoroji

Overview of this book

Usability testing is a subdiscipline of User Experience. Its goal is to ensure that a given product is easy to use and the user's experience with the product is intuitive and satisfying. Usability studies are conducted with study participants who are representative of the target users to gather feedback on a user interface. The feedback is then used to refine and improve the user interface. Remote studies involve fewer logistics, allow participation regardless of location and are quicker and cheaper to execute compared to in person studies, while delivering valuable insights. The users are not inhibited by being in a new environment under observation; they can act naturally in their familiar environment. Remote unmoderated studies additionally have the advantage of being independent of time zones. This book will teach you how to conduct qualitative remote usability studies, in particular remote moderated and unmoderated studies. Each chapter provides actionable tips on how to use each methodology and how to compensate for the specific nature of each methodology. The book also provides material to help with planning and executing each study type.
Table of Contents (18 chapters)
Title Page
Copyright and Credits
Dedication
Packt Upsell
Contributors
Preface
8
What to Consider When Analyzing and Presenting the Study Results
Index

Chapter 4. Running a Remote Moderated Study

As we discussed in Chapter 1, Why Everyone Should Run Remote Usability Studies, in a remote moderated usability study, the UX researcher and the study participant are both present and connected, but they are not in the same location.

Moderated studies use the internet and collaborative software, so the UX researcher can watch the participant interact with the product being tested and can see their facial expressions. Real-time moderation makes it possible to ask additional questions, based on what is observed as the participant.

Remote moderated study

Stakeholders that are familiar with in-person studies may see remote moderated studies as a justifiable compromise, as compared to in-person testing, because of the ability to observe, ask follow-up questions, and include participants from different geographies, without incurring additional costs.

Compared to unmoderated testing, remote moderated testing requires considerably more effort in recruiting...