The Internet Encyclopedia (Volume 3)

P1: JDW

Zimmerman WL040/Bidgolio-Vol I WL040-Sample.cls June 20, 2003 17:20 Char Count= 0

PREPARING THEPRESENTATION 521

users, and the negative impact on users’ perception of the

Web site. When you have analyzed all data, summarize

your findings.

Identify Strengths and Weaknesses

Begin by identifying what participants liked about the

Web site and what they found easy to use. Then proceed

to identifying the recurring problems that many users en-

countered. Focus first on the recurring problems encoun-

tered when users interacted with the Web site. For each

problem indicate a severity rating—how critical is it? Will

it case critical problems for users? How many users might

encounter the problems?

Make Recommendations

Try to develop multiple suggestions to overcome the iden-

tified problems by providing a range of possible solutions,

illustrating those solutions with examples from other Web

sites and providing examples of the coding used to achieve

the solutions. Key to solving the problem is obtaining con-

sensus among the Web development team. Thus, provid-

ing multiple solutions engages members of the Web de-

velopment team to think about the potential solutions,

and they may develop other solutions that will solve the

problem. In the long run, the best solutions are ones that

overcome the problem and are adopted by the Web deve-

lopment team.

REPORTING ON USABILITY TESTING

RESULTS

Prepare a written report of the usability testing, a formal

presentation including screen captures to illustrate the

points, and possibly a videotape illustrating participants

interacting with the Web site.

Prepare the Report

Begin by writing the technical report. It should include

an executive summary, introduction, methods, findings,

discussion, recommendations, and conclusions. Develop

the tables and figures of the key findings, then write the

findings around the tables and figures. We now describe

each component of the report in brief.

Executive Summary

A one- or two-page executive summary, usually written af-

ter the report is drafted, condenses the document into a

quick and easy-to-read explanation of the project and its

key findings. Many readers read no further than the ex-

ecutive summary, so succinctly review the project’s back-

ground, state the objectives, provide a brief summary of

the methods, identify the problems that participants en-

countered, describe the site features causing the prob-

lems, and provide suggestions for eliminating the prob-

lems. Use bullet lists and boldface text to stress the most

important information.

Introduction

The introduction provides a brief summary of the re-

searching or evaluation setting, briefly describes the Web

site and its purpose, identifies the intended users, and then

articulates the research objectives.

Methods

The methods section describes how the usability testing

was conducted by profiling the intended users, describ-

ing the sampling strategy of participants, detailing the

data collection, and explaining the analysis. In this sec-

tion, researchers should clearly describe all aspects of the

methodology and answer the “who, what, when, where,

and how” of the testing.

Findings and Discussion

Usability practitioners disagree on how to present find-

ings. Some argue for presenting the findings and discus-

sion separately, others for integrating the two. For an in-

tegrated approach, begin with a review of the positive

characteristics of the Web site and then identify the prob-

lems participants encountered. Introduce problems in

rank order, identifying the most critical or most frequently

occurring problems first. Keep in mind that some prob-

lems may be critical to users’ success in using the product

but may not occur as frequently as other problems.

Consider the education and background of the in-

tended readers of the report and presentation when se-

lecting the qualitative and quantitative data. Provide a

qualitative overview of the problems and then add ta-

bles and figures supporting the key points made. Keep in

mind that triangulation—using observation data from a

different approach—helps substantiate the findings and

minimizes the chances of misinterpretation of the ob-

servations. Use anecdotal comments and observations to

elaborate and illustrate the identified problems and data

presented. Add screen captures illustrating specific prob-

lems when possible.

Interpret the findings by answering the following ques-

tions: “What are the data saying about the Web site?

How do the results answer the questions posed in the ob-

jectives?” Look for trends in data that suggest relation-

ships between factors. Are these relationships causal or

correlational? How do you know they are causal? Are

items that logically belong together, such as ratings for

site readability and conciseness, showing similar results?

Report triangulated data to validate the findings. If the

results from methods differ, explain why. Provide inter-

esting examples to enhance relevance of the data inter-

pretations.

Conclusions

Identify the major strengths, highlight the major prob-

lems, and provide recommendations. Consider using bul-

let lists to highlight the key findings.

PREPARING THE PRESENTATION

Develop a 20- to 30-minute presentation using such pre-

sentation software as Microsoft’s PowerPoint. Organize

the presentation similar to the report, providing suc-

cinct data table and data presentation, interpreting the re-

sults, and then highlighting major recommendations. Use

screen captures to illustrate key points and video clicks,

if needed. In the presentation, leave 15 to 30 minutes to