How not to test

“Don’t ask leading questions, don’t create expectations, don’t defend your design, don’t stare accusingly at the camera, don’t ask design questions, don’t put large red crosses in your notes, don’t identify participants, don’t yell ‘press the print button you idiot!’ from the observer’s room, don’t chew with your mouth open, don’t slouch in your seat…”

Turns out there are a LOT of things you’re not allowed to do in a usability testing session. In fact, if you place all the possible mistakes side-by-side they might stretch all the way to the end of a conference presentation.

Usability testing is the breeding ground of great design & not just for what it teaches you about your CURRENT design, but for what it teaches you about HOW TO design. Matt Morphett and Shane Morris have been conducting usability tests and training others in usability testing for many years now – in all sorts of contexts. They’ve made ALL the mistakes – and now they want to share their learning with you.

At UX Australia this year, Matt and Shane plan to conduct a LIVE usability test in front of a LIVE audience of usability testing experts – you.

In a spirit of learning from one’s mistakes, Matt and Shane will attempt to make every usability testing mistake possible in just 30 minutes – with the help of the conference audience. How many mistakes will you spot? As many as our panel of guest judges? There’s a prize you know… Join the discussion at the end, compare notes, and learn how to usability test by first learning how not to usability test!

Embrace failure again with Matt and Shane in 2011.

And remember, it’s not a test of you…

…it’s a test of us...

Presentation audio

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UX Australia 2011 Day 1
UX Australia 2011 Day 1
UX Australia 2011 Day 1