Usability Testing [was: Re: FAQ page]

[Matthew Paul Thomas]

On Jul 31, 2006, at 4:48 PM, Matthew Nuzum wrote:
> ...
> "There is a cool new product called Ubuntu. You can log into their
> website and download the CD image to burn to a blank CD for free. Then
> you can install it on a computer. My team is interested in seeing how
> easy or difficult it is for people to download and create the CD. 
> Would you mind trying to download it while I quietly watch? I want to 
> see if you can do it without having to ask for help, so pretend I'm 
> not here."

That would be a good start. But you might get even more interesting 
results from something like: "Let's pretend your boss has asked you to 
get a copy of Ubuntu, u-b-u-n-t-u, working on your computer some time 
in the next week".

That way you'd learn about things like:
*   How do people find Ubuntu in the first place? Do they do a Web
     search, or do they look on Amazon or somewhere else?
*   If they do a Web search, what search engine do they use, and what
     terms? Does ubuntu.com work well for those terms?
*   Do people end up at ShipIt by mistake? If so, do they realize that
     ShipIt won't deliver to them fast enough?
*   What do people do if their Internet connection is such that the CD
     image will take hours to download? Do they give up? Does ubuntu.com
     help them download it a piece at a time?
*   Does ubuntu.com provide adequate instructions on how to burn a CD,
     what kind of CD to use, and where to find CD burning software for
     operating systems that don't have ISO burning built in?

Downloading the CD image is just a small part of this. :-)

-- 
Matthew Paul Thomas
http://mpt.net.nz/