Chapter 12 discusses the evaluation process. Evaluation is used to understand a user of a certain technology and how they experience that technology. It focuses on usability of a system, as well as a users’ experience when using that system. Evaluation can be more effective depending on where the evaluation takes place; it can take place within laboratories or even in natural settings depending on what we are evaluating.
The chapter named three evaluation methods. These include usability testing, field studies, and analytical evaluation. Usability testing helps measure a users’ performance of certain tasks dealing with a certain type of technology. Field studies are done in natural settings and are used to understand how people act naturally, and also how products will mediate their natural activities. They help identify opportunities for new technology, establish requirements for a design, facilitate the introduction of technology, and evaluate the technology. The last method is analytical evaluation, which has two categories of evaluation: introspection, and theoretically based models. These are used to predict a users’ performance.
Ch 14 explains usability testing and field studies in more depth. Usability tests measure the performance of a design by set tasks. Usability tests, compared to field studies, are conducted in controlled environments. Usability tests are measured by the time it takes to complete a task, and the number of errors a user makes. Field studies help find out how users adopt to certain designs. They are done in uncontrolled environments where activities are interrupted.
I thought chapter 12 had an interesting section on combining the approaches of evaluation. I feel that the first two methods mentioned, usability testing and field studies both have important factors to consider. Usability tests are helpful because they can help measure how a user will interact with a certain technology. Field studies help us understand the user in their natural setting. Combing the two helps designers understand the bigger picture of how the technology or design will be used. Overall, I feel that evaluation is a very important part of the design process as well. It is useful to help designers get feedback while designing ideas. It also helps with fixing problems early on in the design process. Evaluation can help improve designs throughout the process, as well as help with designs that will be made in the future.
June 10, 2008 at 9:00 am
Nice concise summary of a lot of material. I especially liked your insight about the importance of multiple methods in investigating the user of a system. If one views usability as an either/or proposition, then that person will only see part of the picture and quite possibly will make design decisions not based entirely in reality. Using combinations of methods adds more definition to the design space.