Usability Testing

Are you interested in bringing usability testing into your design process, but are unsure of how to get started? Have you heard of testing, but aren’t sure how it can help you improve your work?

This beginner class will explore everything from the purpose of usability testing to recruiting participants to reporting the results to your client or stakeholders. Many of us work in environments that restrict us from testing, whether those restrictions are organizational politics, tight timelines, or budgets. But for each sticky situation, there’s a way to fit testing into the process.

This class will review the following:

The purpose of usability testing: what it can and can’t do for your design Planning for tests Moderating and recording tests: techniques and tools Test analysis and presentation to clients and stakeholders Remote testing vs. in-person testing: the benefits and drawbacks of both A list of books, articles, and other resources to help you get started or learn more about usability testing There are no prerequisites for this class. No software or equipment is required for the class. However, we recommend bringing a laptop, tablet, or old fashioned pen and paper to take notes.

About the teacher: While in college, Jessica Ivins took a class devoted to HTML and CSS, fell in love, and never looked back. She began her career as a front-end developer, and while working in the real world, she fell in love again with the principles of user-centered design. She was most recently a senior experience designer at Happy Cog and is now an independent UX consultant.

http://photos1.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/1/2/6/8/event_175144712.jpegA strong advocate for universal usability, Jess is the first to admit that she’s befuddled by a lack of clarity in everything from road signage to food packaging. She’s passionate about making things easy and enjoyable to use and regularly contributes her time and experience to the UX community. She has served as an officer for Philadelphia’s UX community PhillyCHI (http://phillychi.acm.org/) and organizes meetings for the Philadelphia UX Book Club (http://uxphilly.tumblr.com/). She has spoken at numerous conferences including the 2011 IA Summit, SXSW 2012, Midwest UX 2012, The Wharton UI Conference 2011-2012, and Pittsburgh Web Design Day 2012.

In her spare time, Jess busies herself with reading, cooking, and enjoying a fine glass of wine. She’s also mildly obsessed with the TV show Forensic Files.