CHAPTER 1
Newton and Its Users
1-18 Involve Users in the Design Process
7. Ask if there are any questions before you start; then begin
the observation.
8. During the observation, remember several pointers:
Stay alert. It’s very easy to let your mind wander when you’re in the
seventh hour of observing users. A great deal of the information you
can obtain is subtle.
Ask questions or prompt the participant. Make sure you have a tester
protocol that spells out how frequently you prompt and what you
say. Your interruptions shouldn’t be frequent, but when a participant
is hesitating or saying, “Hmmm,” ask what the participant is
thinking about.
Be patient; it is very easy to become impatient when someone is taking
a long time. The participant is doing you a favor and is probably
somewhat nervous. Anything you can do to alleviate the participant’s
insecurities and put the participant at ease will provide you with much
richer data.
9. Conclude the observation.
Do the following when the test is over:
Explain what you were trying to find out during the test.
Answer any remaining questions the participant may have.
Discuss any interesting behaviors you would like the participant
to explain.
Ask the participant for suggestions on how to improve the product.
10. Use the results.
As you observe, you may see users doing things you never expected them
to do. When you see participants making mistakes, your first instinct may
be to blame the mistakes on the participant’s inexperience or lack of
intelligence. This is the wrong focus to take. The purpose of observing
users is to see what parts of your product might be difficult to use or
ineffective. Therefore, if you see a participant struggling or making
mistakes, you should attribute the difficulties to faulty product design,
not to the participant.