Usability Testing for Technical Communicators

Note: Specific weekly topics and assignments are subject to change throughout the course. Check the weekly notes regularly. I will send out email notifications if a change is posted. Last updated 10/09/04, for Fall 2004 session.

• Course Overview and Description
• Course Requirements
• Textbooks and Other Instructional Materials          Additional Readings and Resources
• Course Outline and Class Assignments

Course Overview

Description (From the UCB Extension Catalog)

How do you know whether the information you create is easy for your target audience to access and use? One of the best ways to find out is to conduct a usability test, where you can observe people accessing and using the information. This course provides an overview of usability tools and techniques, then focuses on one in particular--usability testing. You learn the concepts and techniques you need to set up and conduct a usability test. You learn where usability testing fits in the information development cycle and how it relates to other user-centered design activities. Through discussion, readings, and practice, you learn to establish test requirements, select participants, develop test materials, conduct a usability test, compile the results, and feed what you have learned back into your information design.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this course, students will have learned the basic steps involved in developing and conducting a usability test. Students will have learned about and practiced planning a usability test, clarifying goals and objectives for the test, identifying appropriate usability participants, developing test materials, conducting the test, recommending changes based on the results of the test, and writing a summary report of the findings and recommendations.

Student Responsibilities

As a student in this class, you are expected to:

• Attend all class sessions, and arrive on time. Class will start promptly. We don't have many meetings, so being at each one is important. However, I do realize that sometimes emergencies occur that require you to miss a class or arrive late. Please let me know—in advance, if possible—if you must miss a class. And plan to get in touch with a classmate afterwards to discuss what you missed.
• Participate actively. There will be individual and group work in class, as well as instructor lectures and presentations. Bring your questions and ideas to class.
• Turn in homework assignments when due, and do the assigned reading before class. See the course outline below for details.
• You will be working with your classmates. Work collaboratively and with respect for each other. Do your share. You will be expected to identify what role(s) you took and how you contributed.
• Complete your class project, turn it in at the final class, and present your findings to the class. (Most people will do this in groups.) More about this below, under Class Project.

There is a wealth of resources about usability, human factors, and user-centered design available—web sites, books, newsletters, toolkits, professional organizations, discussion lists, and more. I've assigned only a few readings, and provided some links and pointers to other readings and resources. I hope you'll explore, learn more, and be inspired by what is available.

Instructor Responsibilities

As the instructor, my role is to present you with information related to the subject, provide opportunities for you to try out what you're learning, help you understand the class material, and provide feedback on your work. Please feel free to ask questions. I'm happy to arrive a bit early, stay a bit late, or talk at the break. You can also reach me by email with questions.

I will also give you a grade. My expectations of you are outlined in this syllabus. If you have any questions about what is expected of you, please ask.

Course Requirements

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Students are expected to attend all scheduled classes, actively participate in class discussions, complete reading assignments and submit written assignments on due dates.

Class Project

Working with a small group of other students, you will plan, design, and facilitate the usability test of a document, and based on the results, you will make written recommendations for changes. You will work on it each week, both in class and outside of class. The project will have these parts:

• Usability Test Plan
• Usability Test Materials
• Conducting the Usability Test (in-class and out-of-class)
• Writing up the Findings and Making Recommendations
• Presenting a Summary of Your Experience and Your Findings to the Class

Evaluation

Grades will be based on the following

Textbooks and Other Instructional Materials

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Required

• Barnum, Carol, Usability Testing and Research, Longman Publishers, 2002.
• Krug, Steve, Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability. New Riders Publishing, 2000
• “The Best of Both Worlds: Combining Usability Testing and Documentation Projects,” (PDF) by Kantner, Rosenbaum, Leas. In the Proceedings of the 1997 IEEE International Professional Communication Conference (IPCC) http://www.teced.com/PDFs/ipcc97.pdf
• Other articles, to be assigned.

Highly Recommended

• Coe, Marlana, Human Factors for Technical Communicators. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1996.

Additional Books and Resources

STC Usability SIG Web Site (http://www.stcsig.org/usability/index.html)

STC Usability Toolkit (http://www.stcsig.org/usability/resources/toolkit/toolkit.html)

Dumas, Joseph S and Redish, Janice C, A Practical Guide to Usability Testing. Revised Edition, Intellect Books, 1999.

For more, see the Class Reading and Resources list.

Course Outline and Class Assignments

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Week 1. Course Overview (September 25, 2004)

• Be prepared to introduce yourself to the class.
• Be prepared to discuss what you believe makes information usable, and what makes it difficult to use.

Topics

1. Class introduction and syllabus review
2. Instructor and student introductions
3. What is usability?
4. Technical communicators’ roles in usability
5. Introduction to user-centered design
6. The usability testing process
7. Discussion of class projects and homework

Readings and assignments due week 2

1. Krug - whole book (it goes fairly quickly)
   After reading it, consider this question (jot down your thoughts and bring the notes to class): This is a book about web usability. How does it apply to you as a technical communicator? What ideas in it can you apply to developing print and online documentation?
2. Barnum - Chapters 1 and 2
3. Consider the usability of things you encounter in your life--products, documents, websites. Bring samples that you consider very usable, or very unusable.
4. Identify one or more documents that can be used for your project, and consider high-level goals for testing. Bring the documents and written description of goals to class. We will discuss this further in class on 10/4. (From these samples, class teams will select documents to test.)
5. Recommended: Spend at least 15-30 minutes browsing what's available on the web about usability. Start with some of the links on the Class Reading and Resources list.

Week 2. Getting Started: Planning Your Test and Developing your Plan (October 2, 2004)

Topics

1. What makes information usable?
2. Types of usability tests
3. Understanding your audiences
4. Planning your test
5. Creating a written plan
6. What do you want to learn? How will you learn it?
7. Defining your participants
8. Finding participants

Readings and assignments due week 3

1. Barnum – “How Users Learn” in Chapter 3, Chapter 5
2. Articles in your handouts:
   “Informal Usability Testing: A Strategy for User Involvement,” Kathy Haramundanis, Digital Equipment Corporation, 1992 ACM
   “Test Early, Test Often: A Formative Usability Kit for Writers,” Sophie Kohn Kaminsky, Bell-Northern Research, 1992 ACM
3. Additional article. One of the following:
   “The Best of Both Worlds: Combining Usability Testing and Documentation Projects,” (PDF) by Kantner, Rosenbaum, Leas
   Combining Usability Reearch with Documentation Development for Improved User Support,” (PDF) by Keirnan, Anscheutz, and Rosenbaum
4. Complete your test plan and submit it to me by email by 7 PM Friday, October 8.

Week 3. Preparing Test Materials (October 9, 2004)

Topics

1. Determining required materials
2. Writing the test scenario
3. Developing other materials
4. Preparing for a test

Readings and assignments due week 4

Note that there will be no class on October 16.

1. Barnum - Chapters 6 before/while developing materials; Chapters 7 in preparation for class 4
2. Revise your plan, if changes needed.
3. Prepare your test materials (in your team, decide who will create what)

Resources:

Handout from class
Textbook (Handbook of Usability Testing, by Jeffrey Rubin)
Usability Testing Materials from Information & Design website
STC Usability Toolkit (from Usability SIG website)

3. Recommended: Read one or more of these articles:

“Why You Only Need to Test with 5 Users” by Jakob Nielsen (Alertbox: 3/19/2000)      

“Paper Prototypes: Still Our Favorites” by Jared Spool and UIE

“Paper Prototyping" from IBM DeveloperWorks

“Six Slick Tests for Docs and Help” by Jared Spool and UIE

“Making Online Information Usable” by Jared Spool and UIE

4. Recommended: Read one or more of the reprints about usability testing and documentation in your handouts.

Week 4. Conducting the Test (October 23, 2004)

Topics

1. Conducting the test: what you do, what it's like
2. Facilitation tips
3. Running a test - In-class test session
4. Guest speaker

Readings and assignments due week 5

1. Barnum - Chapter 8

Week 5. Summarizing Findings and Making Recommendations (October 30, 2004)

Topics

1. Reviewing what you've learned
2. Making recommendations
3. Creating a report of your findings and recommendations

Readings and assignments due week 5

1. Barnum - Chapter 8, if not completed before
2. Do an additional test of your document
3. Be prepared to be a participant for another class team
4. Document your findings and make recommendations for changes

Note that there will be no class on November 6.

Week 6. Student Presentations (November 13, 2004)

Topics

1. Presentation of student papers
2. "What next?"...discussion of next steps in learning about usability
3. Evaluation of class

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Usability Testing for Technical Communicators, Fall 2004, UC Berkeley Extension
Instructor: Linda Urban