Usability on a Shoestring: Techniques You Can Use Today

Where: College of the Holy Cross
Hogan Campus Center Third Floor
College Street Gate 7
Worcester, Massachusetts

When:9:00 pm - 3:00 pm

Workshop Organizer: Dave Bretthauer of University of Connecticut

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You've been assigned a project which would benefit from usability testing. When there is little or no budget, you have no usability lab and your organization hasn't really done this before, what do you do and how do you start?

This SIG will give practical examples of usability practices and principles which have been used to improve product effectiveness.

Each SIG participant is encouraged to bring a current or upcoming project which could benefit from user input. SIG sessions will provide information so that participants may develop ideas and draft plans for UT activities. Participants can share their project with others for feedback (or review privately throughout the SIG) to begin developing a manageable plan for usability testing. Session materials along with some participant work may be saved in a blog or wiki, so that everyone will have access to a usability testing resource after the event.
 

Event Schedule:
8:00am – 9:00am Registration and Coffee

9:00am – 9:10am Welcome and Expectations
Speaker: Dave Bretthauer, Library Webmaster, University Libraries, University of Connecticut

9:15am – 9:35am Overview: What is Usability
Speaker: Mélanie St. James, Manager, Design and Usability Services, Educational & Scholarly Technology Services, University Information Technology, Tufts University

9:40am – 10:00am Usability & the Information Technology Website: How to Stop Being Our Own Worst Enemy
Speaker: Nikki Reynolds, Ph.D., Director, Instructional Technology Services, Hamilton College

Hamilton College ITS has a lot of information for all of our users and potential users on our web site. Too bad people have so much trouble using it that they have to call the Help Desk, or do a Google search, to find the information they need. This presentation will discuss (briefly) how very simple focus groups assisted in the identification of the “most important” organizational principles for the faculty, students and staff. Through this example, and one or two others, participants will learn how to recognize how and where in the design and implementation process they can be effective, how to formulate a plan for focus groups, and how to get the most out of the data that is gathered while working within the project timeline.

10:00am – 10:20am Google Website Optimizer Overview and A/B Testing Demonstration
Speaker: Dave Bretthauer, Library Webmaster, University Libraries, University of Connecticut

Google Website Optimizer is one of a set of tools offered by Google. This presentation will demonstrate the basics of how to set up an A/B test, discuss the differences between A/B and Multivariate testing, display results from a recent or ongoing A/B test, talk about some of the options available, and suggestions for when A/B testing is a viable usability testing tool. Participants will get an understanding of the service, and those with a Google account and who manage a website or web pages should be able to set up an A/B test of their own after this presentation.

10:30am - 11:30am Break and Small Groups: Discuss possible starting points - Moderated

11:30am – 12:00pm LMS Usability Testing: Faculty, Students, Ben & Jerry
Speakers:
Hong Chau, Instructional Technologist, Academic Technology, CIS, Brown University
Carrie Saarinen, Med, Instructional Designer, Programs Coordinator, Academic Technology, CIS, Brown University

Brown University has been exploring options for replacing their current learning management system (LMS). In this session, Carrie and Hong will review their approach to LMS usability testing and detail their solution for the student participation problem. By the end of this session, participants will have some ideas for engaging students in the usability testing process including planning the UT event, developing a mechanism to gather data, and then compiling results.

12:00pm – 1:00pm Lunch

1:00pm – 1:30pm Lessons learned - What Worked, and Didn't Work
Speaker: Mélanie St. James, Manager, Design and Usability Services, Educational & Scholarly Technology Services, University Information Technology, Tufts University

There are techniques we use over and over again, but because each project is unique, no two usability evaluations are the same. This presentation will compare two (low-tech, low-budget) usability evaluations where a similar technique was used. Learn when the technique worked best, and when it didn’t.

Learning Objective:
Through a comparative, double case study, participants will learn about:
• the planning of usability studies
• the importance of pilot testing a usability study
• group testing
• limitation of some techniques
• the value of debriefing with group of testers

1:30pm – 2:30pm Small Groups: Developing a Usability Plan (based on a scenario)

2:30pm – 3:00pm Beyond the Shoestring: Building on Success Toward Key Elements of Sustainable Usability Testing
Speaker: Mélanie St. James, Manager, Design and Usability Services, Educational & Scholarly Technology Services, University Information Technology, Tufts University

At the end of your current project, you will have some successes to reflect on. As you work on this project, are there key steps that can help your organization move toward user-centered design in a sustainable way? Looking beyond the current project, what will you need to build an effective ongoing usability testing program in your organization? This presentation will help you see manageable next steps to help you think strategically as well as tactically.

3:00pm – 3:15pm Wrap up

3:15pm End


Speaker:
Carrie Saarinen

Carrie L. Saarinen, MEd is the instructional designer and programs coordinator in the instructional technology group at Brown University. Carrie develops instructional design strategies for a variety of courses by assessment of faculty objectives, learner needs and campus resources. She has expertise in social media and web 2.0 tools that are utilized for departmental collaborative work, research, academic writing, organizational marketing, and broadcasting news and information. Carrie is a core member of the team orchestrating the learning management system (LMS) assessment project at Brown and managed the usability testing portion of the project. The team concluded the assessment in late June 2011 with the implementation project beginning immediately after.

Carrie received her bachelor’s degree in Management from Curry College in Milton, MA and earned her master’s degree in Education with a focus on technology in education at Salem State College in Salem, MA. She is a member of the Higher Education Web Professionals Association (HEWEB), a member of EDUCAUSE and NERCOMP. She manages the Twitter account for the Northeast Regional Computing Program (@NERCOMP).


Speaker:
Dave Bretthauer

Dave Bretthauer is Library Webmaster at the University of Connecticut Libraries and a member of the Libraries’ Digital Programs Team. He manages several websites for the Libraries and leads or participates in website improvement projects, including usability testing. He represents the Libraries in University-wide discussions on future directions for UConn’s web presence, particularly in its mobile strategy and usability testing. He is a long time advocate for open source software. He received his MLS from Columbia University and is an active member of the Library and Information Technology Association (LITA) as well as the Association of College and Research Libraries/New England Chapter (ACRL/NEC).



Speaker:
Hong Chau

Hong T. Chau is an instructional technologist in Academic Computing at Brown University. She is a recent graduate of Brown University with a Bachelors of Arts in Commerce, Organizations, and Entrepreneurship. Hong is a core member of the learning management system (LMS) assessment project at Brown, participated in the pre-assessment campus survey and data analysis and co-facilitated the usability testing portion of the project. Her professional interests include faculty training, student worker program development, and iPads for educational use.


Speaker:
Mélanie St.James

Mélanie St.James is Manager of Design and Usability Services at Tufts University. She is part of the Educational and Scholarly Technology Services team, within University Information Technology (UIT). Mélanie has been at Tufts since 2002, and began experimenting with and integrating User-Centered Design (UCD) techniques in 2006. She is currently implementing UCD at a larger scale for many of UIT’s tactical projects. Mélanie holds a Masters degree in Technology, Innovation and Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.


Speaker:
Nikki Reynolds

Nikki Reynolds is the Director of Instructional Technology Services team at Hamilton College. This team is responsible for all forms of support for the academic program, including the design and support of technology uses in courses and in research by students and faculty. Nikki’s background is in computer science, particularly focused on information retrieval and human computer interaction. She is particularly interested in human factors, and has begun leading the effort to incorporate more user input to project design at Hamilton College. She has been an active member of EDUCAUSE and NERCOMP for over 12 years.