Attachment 'Usability Study Script.html'
DownloadUsability Study for System Preferences: November 2008
MODERATOR SCRIPT
Introduction
Welcome and thank you for participating.
We're looking to get some feedback on some early work in progress. There are no right or wrong answers. Any comments you have along the way, positive or negative, are appreciated.
If you need to take a break or for some reason can't continue, please just let me know.
Explain control room and 'voice over microphone'. Please turn cell phone off or down, since it can cause feedback with the microphone.
Think out loud method.
Any questions before we begin?
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Section A: Background questions
Confirm background info from screener:
1. Current job title and main job activities?
2. Which Operating System do you primarily use: ____________________
Approximately How long have you been using it? (5 + years, 2-5 years, less than 1 year)
Which browser(s) do you primarily use ____________________
3. How you make changes or additions to your computer?
Desktop/GUI tool or application ex. Control Panel or Launch Menu
Use the command line or run a software script
4. Which of the following tasks do you do on a regular basis:
(Reference is on post-it note)
Often: once a week or more- assign it #1,
Sometimes: two-three times a month - assign it #2,
Rarely: once every six months or less) - assign it #3,
- Change the current desktop background image or color
- Change the screen saver
- Change the screen resolution
- Change your login password
- Add or remove a printer (have this as a lower priority task)
- Change your default printer (have this as a lower priority task)
- Change your default browser
- Change how you open/view pictures ex. Picture viewer
- Increase scrolling speed or change other controls for your mouse)
- Change font size
- Change power settings (time period when screen goes to sleep)
- Describe their own regularly performed task(s), if it's not captured above.
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Other:
Ask if users keep default settings mostly, or make changes.
Often: once a week or more, Sometimes: two-three times a month, Rarely: once every six months or less)
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MAKE SURE WINDOWS MACHINE AND MAC MACHINE ARE BOTH IN THE SAME 'VIEW' IE. CATEGORY VIEW
Section B: Complete Tasks TARGET 4-5 TASKS, TIME PERMITTING
Based on their high frequency tasks above (assigned #1), complete the task on
1) their 'usual' OS? or Windows
-- MACHINE 1 SHOULD HAVE WINDOWS INSTALLED, AND OPENSOLARIS?
(decided not to use OpenSolaris, since Mac and Windows are much better 'yard sticks'
2) repeat on the Mac (try) as our 'best in class' reference
IF THEY AREN'T FAMILIAR WITH MAC AND ARE HAVING ISSUES, THEN DROP THIS PART
NOTES:
1. Allow no more than 4 minutes for each task per machine.
2. Ask at the end of each task for each machine:
Was is easy or difficult to complete this task? And why?
Easy
Difficult
Backup tasks:
- Confirm if wireless setting for xxx is set up, or confirm Firewall setting.
- You're travelling to Boston and need to change the time
3. At the end of the tasks, ask:
You've completed some tasks on both the Mac and the PC. Overall, was it easier to do the tasks on the Mac or the PC, and why?
On the Mac, you used the Apple menu at the top to access the task areas. On the PC, you used the Start Launcher on the bottom. Other OS may use other menus to access the task areas. Do you have a preference for accessing similar task areas?
No preference _____________
Yes, preference is: __________
We're done with this section and are moving on to something else now. Do you have any other comments about what you've done so far that you would like me to know about?
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Section C: Card sorting
Introduction
In this section, we will be using some cards to have you group categories of information, to see how you think this information should be grouped.
On each white card, is a label or term that describes a main category.
Under each category there will be sub-categories or items that you will sort into the main category, depending on which item you think goes with
each main category. The sub-categories are labelled on the blue cards.
Let's work through one example. For the context of a house, we have cards for two main categories in the house, one labelled Kitchen
and one labelled Office.
Please order the white cards (representing the main categories) and the blue cards (representing the sub-categories or items that belong in
each main category) according to where you think they should go.
white card = Kitchen
white card = Office
blue cards for Kitchen = Stove, Dishwasher, Table, Lamp
blue cards for Office = Desk, Computer, Printer, Lamp
QUESTIONS so far?
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For the OpenSolaris project that my team is working on, we are going to be restructuring the existing menu preferences; we are trying to group the information into updated categories. Here is our current starting point: see image.
You can think about the tasks you completed on the Mac and Windows machines, and how that information was grouped. You will be doing a similar categorization for some computer groupings, like we just did with the Kitchen and Office a few minutes ago.
If you want, you can go back to the Mac or PC that you used, and look at these for reference at any time.
There are also some blank blue cards that you can write on if you think of sub-categories or items that are missing. Or if you think an
item belongs in more than one main category.
There are also some blank white cards that you can write on if you think there are main categories that are missing.
Or if you don't like the term or word on the card, you can use a blank white or blue card to write your own label and replace the existing card.
And if you're not sure where something should be placed after looking at the categories, you can leave it aside for now.
LEAVE THE ROOM AND HAVE THEM COMPLETE THIS.
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Final questions
For each category, look at the cards and layout on the table.
Ask:
How satisfied or confident are you with this main category and its items? Why?
(as we go through this,the person may change their mind or elaborate on what they did, etc)
AT END, TAKE A PICTURE OF THE CATEGORIES.
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Reference:
CARDS TO BE CREATED, CATEGORY AND ITEMS
Decision made to focus on (for this study):
- Appearance : Fonts, Background and Screen Saver, Themes and Folders, Menu and Toolbar
- Display: Screen Resolution, Display Accessibility, Window Behavior
- Date & Time & Language, International
- Accessibility: General Accessibility, Display Accessibility, Keyboard Accessibility, Sound Accessibility
- Printing: Printer Options, Add/Remove Printer, Share Printer
- Application Organizing: Automatically Start, Preferred Applications
- Power Management: x,x,x,
- Sound: Volume, Sound Accessibility, Audio and Video and Multimedia Devices
- Removable Devices: Storage, Input, Handheld, and Media/Audio/Video
To not focus on:
- Network
- Security: Users and Groups, Login Rules and Security, Login Permissions
- Sharing
- Monitoring
- Keyboard and Mouse
Reference:
http://xdesign.sfbay.sun.com/projects/solaris/subprojects/system_preferences/shell_studies/itirations/layout_frank.png - TBD: ITEMS THAT NEED TO HAVE DEFINITIONS PROVIDED
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Last updated: November 18, 2008
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