CHAPTER 1
Newton and Its Users
Involve Users in the Design Process 1-19
Be sure to schedule time between your sessions to make notes and review
the session. Jot down any significant points. If you used videotape or
audio cassette tape, mark in your notes the specific parts of the tape that
you may want to review.
To get the most out of your test results, review all your data carefully and
thoroughly (your notes, the videotape or cassette tape, the tasks, and so
on). Look for places where participants had trouble and see if you can
determine how your product could be changed to alleviate the problems.
Look for patterns in the participants’ behavior that might tell you whether
the product was understood correctly.
It’s a good idea to keep a record of what you found out during the test.
You don’t need elaborate video equipment; a hand-held video camera will
work. In fact, you don’t even have to use video equipment. You can use a
tape recorder to record what is spoken during the session. The important
point is that you create some kind of objective, factual record of the
session that you refer to later. That way, you’ll have documentation to
support your design decisions and you’ll be able to see trends in users’
behavior. You might want to write a report that documents the process
you used and the results you found. After you’ve examined the results
and summarized the important findings, fix the problems you found and
test the product again. By testing your product more than once, you’ll see
how your changes affect users’ performance.