Goals of Usability Test
1. My main objective in conducting this test is to improve my instruction set's ability to help any Mac user reset their lost password.
2. The main feature of my instructions that I want to test is Method 1 which would be for most current operating system. I would like to see if step 2 and 3 throw people off.
3. I feel unsure about the transition between steps 1,2, and 3. I intentionally didn't give exact explanations about what the "menu bar" is. I'm assuming that the Mac owner (my target audience) has some familiarity with the product and with standard "computer" lingo.
Target Audience for Testing
My target audience for testing will be 2 to 3 Mac users. I have at least one or two friends who were interested in knowing how to do exactly what my instruction set says. I don't need anyone from the class, but I could easily test one of them as well if they have a Mac.
Test Type
Ideally, I would use the performance test since my subject matter involves the use of any Mac computer. Since the instruction set is within wikiHow, it will be also easy to observe how easy the information is to follow. I will ask questions after the test based on what I observed. For instance, if they seem to be searching the page for a step, then I would ask them how usable the instructions were.
Test Plan Elements
- Scope: I am testing a wikiHow article that explains how to reset any Mac user's password.
- Purpose: Will my subjects be easily able to complete each step without any prompting or outside help?
- Schedule & Location: Since my test will probably be on people with differing schedules, I will probably ask them before setting the schedule and location. The test will take no longer than 30min.
- Sessions: The test will be one 30 min session.
- Equipment: This test requires the subject to bring their own Mac computer running OS X 10.3 - 10.10
- Participants: Two friends who own Mac laptops and do not know the process.
- Scenarios: There is one scenario that I would test, but my instructions are quite straightforward.
- "Imagine your grandmother forgot her Mac password, how would you use this instruction set to help her recover her password?"
- Metrics:
- How easy was it to understand the instructions?
- Did you ever lose your place when completing a step?
- Was there a particular step that you had a hard time understanding?
- Did you feel you could easily do this again?
- Quantitative Metrics:
- I will track how many times the user looks to me for help.
- I will time how long it takes them to complete the instruction set making note of each step's length.
- Roles: I would be the primary note-taker and observer for the test.