More Mobile Testing
I have continued to ruminate on mobile testing. In thinking about the pervasiveness of mobile, getting mobile right is imperative. But, at the same time, the testing options have major limitations. After all, no one actually hugs a laptop while searching for the ideal episode of Gilmore Girls on Netflix on their surface. And, they …
Mobile Testing
Mobile is ubiquitous. We use phones to check the weather, to read the paper, and take pictures. There are now more phones that adults on Earth. Despite the complete diffusion of Mobile, there are still challenges to creating ideal mobile experiences. Testing remotely has some powerful pluses. Being a fly on the wall helps you …
Unmoderated Remote Testing
Remote testing is incredibly useful for websites. After all the worldwide web is just that–Global. Remote testing means that one can get feedback unencumbered by location of participants. Rather than intercepting people physically, one can grab people as they go about their business on the site you are testing, for example. Recruitment is no longer …
Moderate User Testing
Moderated User Testing is a useful way for testers to work with users who are not in the same location as themselves. There are certain challenges, such as passing on incentives, but at the same time there are enormous benefits, such as being able to reach testers globally. For the tester, videotaping the session is …
Testing from Afar
Testing can be incredibly useful–even essential to rolling out an new product. But it can be cost-prohibitive. Small firms might not have the resources to find the right users, employ testers, set up a room with specialized one-way glass, etc. Of course, people do testing in this way for important reasons: if you have a …
Reading all the Signs
I remember feeling like my first semiotics class was eye opening. I had never considered that there could be an order to language or that that there was a science to understanding this order. Now, all this is a bit of an aside, but I bring it up because there is a parallel with usability …
Listening and Hearing
Talking is my occupation. Teaching is in a manner of speaking about talking and talking and talking. Or, I should say that teaching is about attempting to communicate an idea in multiple ways. Some of those ways are about your voice, others are about the hearing the voice of others, and sometimes its about reiterating …
Quantitative and Qualitative Data
Testing and scholarly research are sort of similar. You have a problem, and you want to understand why that problem is occurring, for example. Both use quantitative and qualitative data. But, in research, you want to be conclusive, exhaustive, and categorical. In testing, you just want to make the problem better. So, in that way, …
Tasks, Tasks, Tasks
You might have a problem and a desire to solve that problem but where do you go next. Imagine being in a situation where your museum app is opened regularly but then no other features are accessed, as assessed through analytics. You know that you need to figure out why this is happening. What is …
Formative vs. Summative
Do you have that sweet or salty conversation with people? For your information, I am salty. If you actually know me, this is not a surprise. I reading about formative testing versus summative testing, I have been trying to really understand when each is best. Is this more personal preference on the part of the …