Our purpose of this usability test was to discover usability issues of the application. The application enables users to copy and paste using Evernote. The project is in the alpha version preparing for a beta release to the general public. There are two platform the product could run on and we test both. One platform was Windows PC and the other was Android based touch devices (i.e. tablets and smartphones).
Role
UX Researcher
Methods
We asked each participant to perform a set of tasks using both the PC and the tablet separately. The two devices used were an Acer W5 convertible 2-in-1 touch PC running Windows 8 and a Samsung Galaxy Tab running the current version of the Android operating system. Both devices were pre-loaded with similar content for each test session. A smartphone was used to discreetly record the test sessions, capture the participant’s reactions throughout the session, and capture any data missed by the moderator or the observer.
For each task, we collected data about success rate and task time. We also gathered verbal responses about their user experience using the thinking aloud protocol. Before and after each task the participant was asked to complete a Likert scale question for each device asking how difficult they felt the specific task would be. These Likert scale questions allowed us to determine the user’s confidence in their ability to complete the task prior to doing the task, and how they felt about the task after they had completed it. A System Usability Scale (SUS) questionnaire was used after the completion of the test asking questions about the participants overall experience with the application.
We use the method of Within-Subjects Design for usability testing with the counterbalancing technique. What this means is each user performed every task, however the order of tasks where randomized for every user. The order of which device was used first for each task was also randomized. This allowed us to make sure that the order the tasks were done in didn’t significantly influencing our data.
Findings & Recommendations
There are some areas that would benefit from improved usability. Some key findings and recommendations are:
- Increased visibility of additional buttons
- Notification of actions
- Additional sorting options
Overall we found that the participants in the study were able to locate the features on both the Windows PC and the Android tablet. Just one of the eight participants were unable to complete a task. The users were impressed with the idea with the app however they were unsure how they would use it day-to-day.