Game testing researches the notion of fun. Compared with mainstream UX studies, it involves many more users and relies more on biometrics and custom software. The most striking findings from the Games User Research Summit were the drastic age and gender differences in motivation research.
User testing works best if you don’t direct participants too much, but sometimes you need users to go straight to a target page. How to get them there?
Measure people's attitudes toward a user interface by a controlled vocabulary test: give users the list of product reaction words and asks them to select those that best describe the design.
Qualitative user studies benefit from using participants’ personal information, but asking for sensitive information requires preparation and consideration.
Low-fidelity user testing of several iterations of Mozilla’s Support website quickly showed which user-interface elements worked best for Firefox users.
Testing your site’s existing design along with a few competitor websites provides valuable insight for new designs. Competitive studies help you avoid developing unusable new features.
UX teams are responsible for creating desirable experiences for users. Yet many organizations fail to include users in the development process. Without customer input, organizations risk creating interfaces that fail.
Testing phones, tablets, or other mobile devices with real users requires special consideration for recording equipment, room setup, and even the test users.
Talk less and learn more by being prepared to use 3 sound, practical techniques for interrupting or answering users while facilitating a usability test or other behavioral research study.
Guidelines for usability test tasks: engage participants by writing task scenarios that are realistic, encourage an action, and don’t give away how the interface should be used.