Q5 : home & testing

I have studied various forms of usability testing, in theory. I have read many a book, and many more a site, about the intricacies of usability testing. (see answer: web resources)

The reality of my usability testing has come mostly at the planning stage of sites. Asking users what they want to see and do on a site. I show them competitor's sites and ask what they like and don't like about them, usually by having them fill out a questionnaire I designed.

My recent, in-person experience involves kidnapping a friend on instant message and asking to try and perform a certain task on the site in question.

At ISI, it involved kidnapping people in person who got too close to my cubicle. There were a lot of people inexperienced enough in The Web to make great test subjects.

Again, nothing official, and/or formalized, and/or expensive, but I have all the books to tell you how, and have always wanted to do proper testing.

Sites Designed