Re: Usability Testing

Donna Maurer:

> I'm sure there are plenty of good IAs and UX designers
doing exactly this,
> with no need to come to the surface on a mailing
list...

Nooooo, feel the need! Because, just as you say, "a
usability tester who
says 'We observed x, you should do y'" is indeed a very
prevalent form of
blight on the design scene.

Ziya
Nullius in Verba 



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On 1/22/07, Ziya Oz <listeraearthlink.net> wrote:
> Nooooo, feel the need! Because, just as you say,
"a usability tester who
> says 'We observed x, you should do y'" is indeed a
very prevalent form of
> blight on the design scene.

That is because thought:
a) hurts, and
b) takes longer .'. costs more.

That and being a "thought leader" is money in the
bank these days 

Cheers, Andrew
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On 1/22/07 5:55 PM, "Ziya Oz" <listeraearthlink.net> wrote:

>> I'm sure there are plenty of good IAs and UX
designers doing exactly this,
>> with no need to come to the surface on a mailing
list...
> 
> Nooooo, feel the need! Because, just as you say,
"a usability tester who
> says 'We observed x, you should do y'" is indeed a
very prevalent form of
> blight on the design scene.

dog forbid that any usability person gets the notion they
can do design.

but then what of those designers who claim the right to do
usability?

hmmm ... 

Person X, does usability + design, calls himself a
"usability professional",
    ==> "a very prevalent form of blight"

Person Y, does design + usability, calls himself a
"designer professional"
    ==> the way it should be, dammit, stop siphoning off
our budget!


Maybe Ziya should get his tattoo refreshed:

>> While practitioners in the different design
disciplines argue incessantly
>> over the distinctions and differences of UI design,
IA, ID, IxD, UX Design,
>> etc. these are all fairly similar. Compared to
architecture, process
>> engineering, or control systems design, which are
design, we are just fussing
>> with terms.
>> 
> Should be tattooed on everyone.

e.

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>> I'm sure there are plenty of good IAs and UX
designers doing exactly
this,
>> with no need to come to the surface on a mailing
list...

>Nooooo, feel the need! Because, just as you say, "a
usability tester who
>says 'We observed x, you should do y'" is indeed a
very prevalent form of
>blight on the design scene.

This is another favorite techniques used in these
"discussions" to compare
the perfect designer against the worst "usability
specialist".  I was very
care in my first post to make several references to a
qualified test person.
"We observed x and you should do y" does not
qualify.  I could have easily
argued why the junior designer needs an experienced
professional in HFE to
assist them, but that wasn't the question.  

A person or team conducting a test (internal or external)
has a
responsibility to explain the result and accurately state
what, if any,
conclusions can be drawn from them.  Usability testing is
rarely done in a
comparative study or with sufficient numbers or in a
controlled enough
environment to be able to make statistically valid
generalizations.
Therefore, it is the responsibility of the person of
conducting the test to
present sufficient rational for any conclusions drawn. 
Recommendations
provided are only suggestions and similarly need
justification but are not
requirements.  And I'm sorry if Ziya or any one else has had
bad experiences
with other forms of usability testing, that doesn't change
anything.  I have
good and bad usability people and good and bad designers.

Bill



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