After reading the instructor blog and chapter 12 in the book, I have pretty much narrowed down my choices for the usability test to either use a read and locate test or a summary test. A document markup might not work well for me because not that many people in this class have an XBOX 360, let alone Call of Duty 5 for it. I also don’t think that a survey would be the best test for me to choose, just because that does not really answer any specific questions for me.
After thinking about it for a while, I am probably (most likely) going to use a “Read and Locate Test” for my instructions project. I decided to choose this one over a summary test because I can pick the five or six most important steps in both of my instructions and make sure that they are easily found, and if not then I can adjust them accordingly. With a summary test, the reader of your instructions just guesses at what they think is important, and they might just skim over the document for the largest picture or the most type, which is not always the most important step.
Before I start to create my test I am going to write down seven or eight of the steps that I think are most important to both sets of my instructions, and then I am going to read through them and narrow them down to the top five or six and create my usability test. My instructions should be straight forward, but if the user misses a simple button stroke or hits the wrong button on the controller it can take them somewhere totally different, so maybe with my test I will ask them to find the instructions where it tells them to actually hit the different buttons. I will probably also ask if they can find from my graphics the icon or item that I am talking about and if they can describe it correctly. Hopefully by picking out some of the most important button strokes, icons from my graphics, and a couple of other factors I will be able to create a good usability test.
I Like It
I like how you are going to create a large list of questions then narrow it down. This sounds like a great idea. Having a broad list you are more likely to accumulate better set questions to ask. The questions that you are going to derive are directly related to how effective the instructions are. In your usability questions, are you going to have questions about layout and design?
Overall, I think you have a great start on how you want to pursue creating your usability test. I think having a “read and relocate” format will meet your needs giving you good feedback.
Zebulon Rouse
You got it!
Zebulon, the statement you make that says, “The questions that you are going to derive are directly related to how effective the instructions are,” is the exact reason why I decided to do the “read and locate” test. If my six or seven most important instructions are not easy to find or locate, then it is obvious that my directions are not effective enough or possibly not effective at all.
I really had not thought about putting questions about layout or design into my usability test, but after reading your response I think that it might be a good idea to throw in at least one question about how my layout/design and if they have an impact of the effectiveness of my instructions.