There are a number of ways to conduct user testing. The first, and possibly the most common, is the ``thinking aloud'' method . When doing this sort of testing, an observer sits with the participant as they use the system and the participant is asked to voice every thought that they have related to using the system. If the participant forgets to talk, the observer prompts them. Also, if more information on the thoughts that user is having is required, the observer can ask them what they are thinking. Ideally, the observer is not anyone who wrote the system or has a vested interest: impartiality is desirable.
While this method has the advantage that you can ``get inside'' the user's head and find out what exactly they are thinking, the user has to remember to always voice their thoughts. Remembering to and constantly vocalising one's thoughts is a skill that very few people have, as it is something that people do not usually do. Vocalising thoughts also has the disadvantage that it slows the person down and breaks the natural flow of operation and thought that they might normally have while using an application .
Paired user testing is an approach that tries to overcome the awkwardness of getting a person to think aloud as they work. In this approach, the user testing of a system is done by pairs of users, who are both working with the program on a single machine at the same time. The users are instructed to discuss what they are thinking and doing. When they strike a problem, they are encouraged to discuss the problem and how they are going about solving it.
Paired user testing gives a much more natural and relaxed interaction with the system. It can be argued that results gleaned from such a study are more representative of a real world situation as it reflects the fact that in the real world people tend to rely on their peers for advice and help with applications that they are not familiar with. With this approach, it is easier to gain insight into how they solve the problems that they face.
For the user testing of this system, the participant used the system while an observer (myself) watched them and helped them when they were not able to solve problems themselves. After they had finished using the system, The observer then discussed any issues that may have arisen throughout the testing. This was supplemented by an anonymous questionnaire and a verbal question session.
The thinking aloud method was not used as it would have meant that a large amount of time would have had to be spent transcribing and analysing the users' comments. This is something that was outside the scope of this thesis. The system is also relatively small so, as the aim of the testing was to get feedback on the pen-based entry and new interface ideas, the questionnaire and verbal questions were sufficient.
is an approach that tries to overcome the awkwardness of getting a person to think aloud as they work. In this approach, the user testing of a system is done by pairs of users, who are both working with the program on a single machine at the same time. The users are instructed to discuss what they are thinking and doing. When they strike a problem, they are encouraged to discuss the problem and how they are going about solving it.
Paired user testing gives a much more natural and relaxed interaction with the system. It can be argued that results gleaned from such a study are more representative of a real world situation as it reflects the fact that in the real world people tend to rely on their peers for advice and help with applications that they are not familiar with. With this approach, it is easier to gain insight into how they solve the problems that they face.
For the user testing of this system, the participant used the system while an observer (myself) watched them and helped them when they were not able to solve problems themselves. After they had finished using the system, The observer then discussed any issues that may have arisen throughout the testing. This was supplemented by an anonymous questionnaire and a verbal question session.
The thinking aloud method was not used as it would have meant that a large amount of time would have had to be spent transcribing and analysing the users' comments. This is something that was outside the scope of this thesis. The system is also relatively small so, as the aim of the testing was to get feedback on the pen-based entry and new interface ideas, the questionnaire and verbal questions were sufficient.