Usability laboratory
A usability laboratory is a facility that has the equipment to carry out usability tests . In such labs is usability (Engl. For serviceability ) checks of products by giving subjects products and they can solve problems with the products. The products tested can, for example, be everyday objects or media offers. Instead of using the finished product, such tests are often carried out with a prototype in order to be able to incorporate the experience gained into further development.
construction
Such facilities usually consist of several rooms, but at least a test room in which the test person is located and an observation room in which what is happening can be followed.
One- way mirrors are often attached between the observation and test rooms , which enable the observer to follow a test unnoticed from the observation room without distracting the test person. Alternatively, the test room can be recorded by cameras and the events can be transmitted to the observation room. Various cameras, microphones and recording devices are required for this, for example to record the eye movement of the test person.
Usability laboratories differ according to their application framework and the context of use. There are special laboratories that simulate an office environment, a living room, a vehicle or an operating theater.
See also: The experimental operating room at the Tübingen University Hospital - a special usability laboratory for medical technology
Artifacts from laboratory tests
When evaluating laboratory tests, it should be noted that various factors change the result compared to the real use examined. Typical examples are:
- that users in laboratory tests are not interrupted by phone calls, family and colleagues
- that optimal PCs, current installations and standardized office equipment are available to users
- Users clearly distinguish themselves from the crowd with their willingness to sacrifice free time for such a test
and other so-called artifacts of this investigation method (after Jakob Nielsen ).
In order to avoid this, "on-site visits" or on-site tests are used, particularly in the case of narrow user groups or special contexts of use (e.g. industrial production plants).
advantages
Laboratory tests are still in use, especially with very large samples, when there is a need for precise video recording or the collection of quantitative data. By closely observing and frequently accompanying the usability test through an interview, it is possible to precisely log usability problems of the product to be tested and to question them in the search for solutions.
Recording software and hardware can be installed in the laboratory (see structure) that cannot usually be set up on site.
disadvantage
Equipping a usability laboratory with the necessary recording and observation equipment costs money - investments of around € 60,000 are sometimes mentioned.
During the test situation in the usability laboratory, the test person often feels observed by the technical equipment and unfamiliar equipment. Last but not least, one-way mirrors and cameras often reinforce the test persons' feeling that their personal competence and not the usability of the product to be tested is being observed.
Also due to the Hawthorne effect , the performance of the test subjects can be distorted due to the observation in contrast to the other performance.
Occurrence
Usability laboratories are rarely used in large companies that do not focus on usability engineering - these companies therefore pass on usability tests to external agencies. Agencies often have an in-house usability laboratory, depending on their size and orientation.
In the meantime, there are also usability laboratories at colleges / universities with a corresponding field of study.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Usability Engineering ( ISBN 0125184069 )
- ↑ http://www.usabilityblog.de/2011/04/was-sie-haben-noch-kein-eigenes-usability-labor/