Virtual Usability Testing

Elyse Sanchez, Wednesday, August 23, 2006 @ 7:40 am

For all the benefits face-to-face usability testing offers, no one can argue that planning and implementing the study is often a labor-intensive logistical challenge. Recruitment can be difficult--we're often at the mercy of the pool of locally available partcipants. Renting or creating the appropriate lab-like environment also consumes time and money.

More and more, virtual testing is being employed. The benefits? The opportunity to select from a global participant pool, schedule sessions more efficiently, and allow for a richer and more authentic experience for the users in the study (who are assessing the application or website in their own surroundings, outside of an unfamilar usability lab environment.) Applications like Morae or WebEx capture detailed data such as keystrokes or cursor movements that even the most eagle-eyed facilitator may miss in the real-time session. There's also the ability to capture video of the participant's face and expressions.

The downside? The difficulty in establishing the bond between facilitator and subject that creates the trust required in all good usability sessions. As often as we say "We're not testing you, we're testing the system," many participants inevitably feel that their performance is the focus. Ideally, I start my sessions with a pre-interview, both to capture participant demographics and to get a feel for the user's interaction style. That relationship is hard to create on a conference call.

user experience design

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