TOPIC:- EVALUATION TECHNIQUES

NAME:- IMRAN ALI LUND

ROLL NO:- 20 BS-IT 09
EVALUATION TECHNIQUES

GOALS OF EVALUATION
•● ASSESS

•○ EFFECTIVENESS OF SYSTEM DESIGN

•○ EFFECT OF THE INTERFACE ON A USER

•● EVALUATION IN SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT

•○ IDENTIFY SPECIFIC PROBLEMS

•○ MINIMAL EFFORT

•○ RAPID

•● EVALUATION OF EXISTING SYSTEM

•○ IDENTIFY SPECIFIC PROBLEMS

•○ BENCHMARK AGAINST PERFORMANCE GOALS

•○ MEASURE THE EFFECT OF CHANGES

EVALUATION TECHNIQUES
•● OBSERVING USERS’ PERFORMANCE

•● TESTING USERS’ PERFORMANCE

•● ASKING USERS ABOUT THEIR OPINIONS

•○ QUESTIONNAIRES, INTERVIEWS, FOCUS GROUPS

•● MODELLING USERS’ TASK PERFORMANCE

•● ASKING EXPERTS FOR THEIR OPINIONS

• ○ EXPERT WALKTHROUGHS
HEURISTIC EVALUATION - USABILITY TESTING IN SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT HOW MANY USERS TO TEST
WITH?
•● A HANDFUL - USUALLY BETWEEN 3 AND 5

•● WHY SO FEW?

•○ IT’S QUICK

•○ IT’S CHEAP AND EASY TO ORGANIZE

•○ IT WILL UNCOVER MOST OF THE MAJOR PROBLEMS

•● LIMITATIONS

•○ INCOMPLETE COVERAGE OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF USERS

•○ NOT ALL ISSUES WILL BE UNCOVERED

WHO NEEDS TO SEE THE TESTS?
•● DEVELOPERS

•○ SEEING IS BELIEVING
•○ PEOPLE ARE ALL DIFFERENT
•● MANAGERS

•○ SEEING IS BELIEVING
•○ REALITY CHECK

WHAT EQUIPMENT?
•● A QUIET WELL-LIT PLACE WITH A COMPUTER

•● A VIDEO CAMERA TO RECORD THE USERS’ BEHAVIOR

•● SCREEN MIRRORING SOFTWARE (PREFERABLE)
•● PEOPLE

•○ USERS
•○ AN OBSERVER

•○ A MONITOR
•● REWARDS

•○ LUNCH?
PEOPLE USERS

•● RECRUIT WISELY

•○ ESPECIALLY IN THE EARLY STAGES

•● GRADE THEM TO TAKE MORE ACCOUNT OF THOSE SIMILAR TO THE TARGET USERS

•● DON’T REUSE THE SAME PEOPLE

OBSERVER

•● EXPLAINS TASK(S) TO THE USERS

•● RECORDS WHAT THE USER IS DOING

•● CONDUCTS ANY PRE- OR POST- TASK INTERVIEWS OR QUESTIONNAIRES

MONITOR

•● NEEDS TO ORGANIZE VIEWERS

•● MEET USERS

•● DISTRIBUTE REWARDS

•● PREVENT INTERRUPTIONS
OBSERVING USERS WHY OBSERVE USERS?
•● GET A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE USER NEEDS AND GOALS

•● BALANCE THE USER EXPERIENCE AGAINST THE DESIGNER’S VISION

•● EXPECTATION MANAGEMENT

•○ MAKE SURE USERS’ VIEWS ARE REALISTIC

•■ FROM DESIGN TO TRAINING

•○ NO SURPRISES, NO HYPE, NO DISAPPOINTMENT

•● OWNERSHIP

•○ USERS WILL BE MORE RECEPTIVE TO A NEW PRODUCT IF THEY HAVE BEEN LISTENED TO

WHAT AND WHERE TO OBSERVE

•● BE CLEAR ABOUT GOALS AND QUESTIONS

•○ OTHERWISE, THE EVALUATION WILL BE MUDDLED AND NOT HELP ANSWER THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS

•● WHERE TO EVALUATE

•○ LAB: DETAILS OF WHAT INDIVIDUALS DO

•○ FIELD: HOW PEOPLE INTERACT WITH EACH OTHER, THE TECHNOLOGY, AND THEIR ENVIRONMENT
THE SAME DATA COLLECTION TOOLS ARE USED BOTH IN LAB AND FIELD STUDIES BUT IN DIFFERENT WAYS
•DATA GATHERING
•● NOTES
•● RECORDING
•○ VIDEO
•○ AUDIO
• ○ STILL IMAGES