Book Image

Handbook of Usability Testing - Second Edition

By : Jeffrey Rubin, Dana Chisnell
Book Image

Handbook of Usability Testing - Second Edition

By: Jeffrey Rubin, Dana Chisnell

Overview of this book

Whether it's software, technical documentation, a cell phone, or a refrigerator, your customer expects your product to be easy to use. Completely updated with current industry best practices and more varied examples, it can give you that all-important marketplace advantage: products that perform the way users expect. The first part of the book introduces you to the overview of testing which covers the definition of the key terms and presents an expanded discussion of user-centered design and other usability techniques. As you progress, you’ll learn the various steps involved in performing a test. The later chapters explore the advanced testing methods and discuss how to extend one’s influence of the whole product development strategy. By the end of this book, you’ll have the exact knowledge to understand and improve the usability of your product.
Table of Contents (6 chapters)

Chapter 14

Expanding from Usability Testing to Designing the User Experience

Up to this point, we have covered the technical aspects of planning, designing, conducting, and reporting the results of a usability test in great detail. We have also placed usability testing within the context of a user-centered approach to product development. In this final chapter, let's revisit the larger picture and discuss how to expand the influence of user-centered design and user experience design within an organization. These suggestions are primarily intended for an individual who has been given (or would like to take) primary responsibility for usability within his or her organization, with minimal formal training in user-centered design.

We suggest a phased program, extending over years, to emphasize the need to build such a program gradually. Let's be very clear: Implementing a user-centered approach to product development for organizations that have not embraced such a program previously...