Usability Participants

Are Your Usability Participants Becoming Just Data in Cells?

Have you read the article from Dana Chisnell about usability Participants and why we as usability practitioners need to respect them? It’s a great reminder that we’re dealing with people, and as with anything when dealing with people they deserve our respect and kindness.

As Dana points out in her article, our usability participants are taking time out of their lives to do a usability session. As she says:

“Don’t forget that you couldn’t do what you do without interacting with the people who use (or might use) your organization’s products and services. When you meet with them in a field study or bring them into a usability lab, they are doing you a massive favor.

Although you conduct the session, the participant is your partner in exploration, discovery, and validation. That is why we call them “participants” and not “test subjects.” There’s a reason it’s called “usability testing” and not “user testing.” As we so often say in the introductions to our sessions, “We’re not testing you. You’re helping us evaluate the .”"

Put Yourself in Your Usability Participant’s Shoes:

Imagine you are a usability participant. You are put into what is most likely a completely new and foreign situation, in which you are being observed and recorded trying to do something you may not be familiar with. You know your mistakes and flubs will be documented and probably described in great detail. You are being asked to be vocal about your thoughts, which in and of itself is a rather odd thing for you to do. After all, how many of us vocalize as we surf the web? Probably very few! And finally, you may have to sign a release form that says your recordings can be used in whatever manner or purpose the researchers wish. Pictures of your goofs being shown to the World on Youtube flash through your head.

Treat Your Usability Participants as Humans:

As I mentioned in my post, synchronizing with usability participants, you must establish a rapport with your participants to ensure your usability testing will be successful. There are several reasons why you must do this:

First, understanding the communication style of your participant will help you understand their observations about positives and negatives of their experience, allowing you to have a richer understanding of their issues.

Second, by establishing a rapport with your usability participant you enable them to feel less threatened by the foreign situation, which allows them to focus on the tasks in an open and more natural manner. This provides a better, more organic, test.

Third, treating usability participants as the humans they are is important because they either are, or could be, customers of the product or service your are testing. Treating customers (or potential customers) well is not just good for business, it’s the right thing to do.

Treat Usability Participants with Respect

Remember, a big reason you and I care about usability is because we want to provide a better, more user-friendly experience for our fellow humans. It’s proper therefore for all of us to treat with courtesy and respect the people who are trying to help us with our testing.