July 23 2013 Volume 7
Hello

Did you know that in many countries at least 30% of users now access the Web solely through their smartphone or tablet? This is a compelling reason for running usability studies on your mobile products before you send them out the door. This edition of Usability Tidbits offers an overview of mobile usability testing, and how it is different from traditional usability testing.

As a bonus - at the end of this message - I've included a link to a webinar I gave last week to the American Marketing Association on this topic.

Happy summer!


Kay

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Why do mobile usability studies?

Mobile usability testing requires additional steps vs. traditional usability because there are many more factors that determine success or failure.
An app might be a fun, unique, intuitive and beautiful but you also need to ensure it offers speedy response, good connectivity, and efficient use of battery power. Consumers experience these as “usability” issues and will stop using the app if it doesn't perform.

so when usability testing mobile apps, you need to cover many more bases to reduce your risk. For this reason, we recommend a three-pronged strategy for evaluating mobile usability.

Our 3-phase strategy for mobile usability studies

Each phase has its own focus and leverages different approaches for collecting user feedback:

1. Formative
- with Formative usability testing we seek to help our client determine whether they have designed the right product for their target audience. Our focus is on capturing the voice of the customer, learning about their needs and goals as they relate to the product. We also seek to understand their workflow and the details around the context they are in when they will be using the app. We use qualitative methods to gather these insights - interviews, focus groups, ethnographies, and online panels.

2. Summative - with Summative usability testing we ask participants to try a fleshed-out design on their own smart phone or tablet. Summative approaches seek to optimize what you think of as the product's user interface, its navigation, screen layout, terminology, and overall flow. We optimize and refine the app's UI, leveraging (mostly) traditional usability testing approaches, with a few twists. Those twists mostly involve seeking to replicate the context in which we expect people will use the product.

3. Field Testing - Field testing involves using a functioning app in actual physical locations. This is where "the rubber hits the road". The focus is on performance, connectivity, integration of social media, online profiles, and usage patterns over time. The goal is to replicate “being there” by taking into account all the physical and social elements that affect the mobile user experience. You collect data through analytics and other automated approaches as well as by circling back to users to get their impressions of what it was like for them to use the product.

With mobile, seek to replicate the user's environment

Testing within the user's context (physical, social, attentional, and psychological) is a key differentiator of mobile usability. For example, if you expect people to use your app while waiting in line for coffee, run 2 minute sessions in a coffee shop with people who are waiting in line. If you anticipate some users will be walking (vs. standing still) as they use your product, have participants walk around while they do their tasks.

Cheap and quick usability studies work especially well with mobile. During the early (formative) stages we do lots of quick prototyping either electronically (or via paper and pencil) with users to arrive at a reasonable design. This process helps to create an app design that matches the user's needs before spending money on implementation. Plus it brings in the voice of the customer in a very concrete way.

Gather user feedback via quick prototypes to arrive at the best design

If you are interested to learn more about mobile usability testing, we invite you to watch a webinar we gave last week to the American Marketing Association on “How to do Mobile Usability Testing”. We hope you find it enlightening!

And give us a call if we can help you design and launch successful mobile products!

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Kay Corry Aubrey - Usability Consultant
Usability Resources Inc
, www.UsabilityResources.net

LinkedIn Profile, http://www.linkedin.com/in/kaycorryaubrey
Usability Resources Inc is SOWMBA/DBE certified

About Kay
Kay Corry Aubrey specializes in helping companies make their products more easily understandable to ordinary people through usability consulting, training, and team mentorship. Her expertise is in qualitative research, usability testing, and user interface design for traditional and mobile technology.  Since 2002 she has worked with organizations as diverse as Abt Associates, AT&T Mobility, iRobot, The Broad Institute, Columbia University Libraries, Constant Contact, NIH, Moxie Software, and the Mayo Clinic. She  teaches medical professionals about designing for usability within the Healthcare Informatics program at Northeastern University.

Please call us when you need objective expertise in how to make your products more successful. Our phone number is 781-275-3020 and e-mail Kay@UsabilityResources.net. We invite you to visit www.UsabilityResources.net for more information.

RECENT ARTICLES
7 Things you don't know about usability testing

"Take it inside" how to  develop an online user community within your organization

Aubrey_VIEWS
An overview of techniques for planning, running, and reporting on usability research
TALKS & TEACHING

American Marketing Association Webinar "How to do a mobile usability test"  July 15 2013

QRCA QCAST "What Qualitative Researchers Need to Know about Usabiity Testing"

Northeastern University Healthcare Informatics "Design for Usability in Healthcare"
ACCESSIBILITY  LINKS

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0) from the W3C

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1973 Section 508

Web accessibility toolbar for Firefox

Fangs screen reader emulator for Firefox

W3C's "WAI-ARIA" specifcation with tips on how to make RIA technology accessible

 
Usability Resources Inc
Contact Details 
Usability Resources Inc PO Box 84   Bedford, MA   Phone: (781) 275 3020
Kay@UsabilityResources.net    www.UsabilityResources.net