On Jan 31, 2007, at 2:02 PM, Josephine Choi wrote:
> My company's working on a new Mac product that we will
be doing
> usability testing on. We use Morae for our Windows
products and like
> the features it provides.
>
> We're looking to find something comparable for testing
Mac software.
> We are doing testing on-site, so remote testing
software is not
> necessary. However, we would like reliable screen
capture. Remote
> observer capability and real-time marking/flagging
would also be nice
> to haves. For those who have experience with testing
Mac software,
> would you be able to share your experiences and
process? What
> products do you use?
Josephine:
I worked in the Macintosh Business Unit at Microsoft,
primarily as a
QA engineer on Mac Office. I participated in a number of
usability
tests there as an observer. I was not directly involved in
the design
of the usability tests, so I won't comment on processes,
only the on
the observation tools.
We had one dedicated usability engineer for a group of about
150
employees; I understand that has since risen to two or
three. We had
access to traditional usability labs, consisting of a series
of
observation booths with one-way mirrors. The usability
engineer could
record the user's conversation and physical actions. I
recall we had
at least two video cameras in each room, so we had access to
close-up
views of the subject's face, as well as her hands on the
keyboard,
mouse, etc. We also had access to a synchronized view of the
computer
screen at all times.
This being Microsoft, the lab setup was not exactly
Mac-optimized.
All of the above was accomplished using dedicated
audio-visual
recorders, and we didn't have a way of capturing
software/hardware
events apart from seeing it happen on the video.
For your lab, you should consider using Apple Remote Desktop
(http://
www.apple.com/remotedesktop/) to do remote viewing during
usability
tests. In order to prevent the appearance of lag at the
viewing
machine, you'll want both your test and viewing machines to
be
reasonably fast and connected via a reliable Ethernet
connection.
Don't depend on WiFi or 10-BaseT, and don't saddle your
usability
people with the oldest Macs in your inventory.
As a bonus, ARD also allows control of remote desktops
(including
Windows and Linux boxes running VNC), so you can walk users
through
an interface layout or task by taking control of their
cursor.
The best stand-alone screen capture tool I've seen on the
Mac, though
not integrated into a usability suite, is Snapz Pro (http://
www.ambrosiasw.com/utilities/snapzprox/). It takes
screenshots, full-
screen, window or menu, with or without cursor, and captures
full or
partial screen movies, fixed or following cursor, with or
without
computer and external soundtrack. Throw that on your viewing
machine
running ARD, and again don't skimp on processor power.
Another bonus
is that your testers and documentation people can easily
generate
static screen-caps
These are tools I've used.
Alternatively, Ziya's recommendation of Redstone's Eggplant
is a good
one if you're looking at something you could also use for
automated
testing. However, if we're talking about just remote screen
recording, their VNC-based Vine viewer/recorder (http://
www.redstonesoftware.com/products/vine/viewer/index.html)
might be a
better choice. I haven't used these, however.
- Will
Will Parker
wparker ChannelingDesign.com
"The only people who value your specialist knowledge
are the ones who
already have it." - William Tozier
------------
IA Summit 2007: Enriching IA
Rich Information, Rich Interaction, Rich Relationships
March 22-26, 2007, Las Vegas, NV
www.iasummit.org
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