The usability testis going to be conducted to decide how user can complete a number of tasks on the GoToMeeting website. The data will be collected via observation and the subjects will be given a questionnaire concerning their experience using the website. The subjects will be selected in such a way that the evaluation provides a view from many perspectives. A number of factors are going to be used to select the individuals to evaluate the website. These factors will need to be different in order to give the best review possible (Barnum, 2011). Each of the subjects will provide a unique view of the website. A number of tasks are going to be selected. Each subject will be required to perform the tasks. The researcher will observe as the subject performs these tasks to get data on how they complete them (Dumas, & Loring, 2008). The researcher will also provide questionnaires to the subjects after their experience. This questionnaire will enable the user to rate the website according to how they saw it. The user will be required to rate the website according to ease of use, user satisfaction, ease of learning or learn ability, efficiency, memorability, error recovery, flexibility, and consistency (Dumas, & Loring, 2008).
The researcher will also observe the subject as they perform the tasks assigned and judge on these factors. The process of selecting the subjects of the research will consider; user experience level/skills/capabilities, education, attitudes/willingness to participate, demographics (age, gender, language, etc.), and user satisfaction of the product. The researcher will try as much as possible to select a diverse selection in order to provide the most relevant information. Each of the subjects selected should have as many unique properties as possible (Leventhal & Barnes, 2008).
Overall plan for the evaluation
The general plan of the usability evaluation contains a number of steps. First, the researcher will need to establish the interface to be tested. The researcher will then identify the specific tasks to be conducted by the subjects in evaluating the website. After this has been identified, the researcher will need to identify the subjects for the test. The researcher then sets up the space from which the test will be conducted and finally, the researcher will collect the data for the usability evaluation. The data will then be analyzed and suggestions for improvements made (Barnum, 2011).
The interface to be tested has been identified as GoToMeeting. This is a website designed to broadcast the desktop of one computer to a host of other computers in a network. Identifying the subjects will require the user to create a questionnaire to get the details of the subjects. This will be a general information questionnaire where the information gathered will be to identify the demographics of the subjects (Galitz, 2007). The information collected on this questionnaire will include the age of the subject, education level attained, gender and the languages spoken. This questionnaire will be provided to many people from whom the researcher will select the final subjects. The aim of this initial questionnaire is to select the subjects with diverse demographics (Kuniavsky, 2003).
The few subjects selected will then proceed to perform the tasks prepared by the researcher. In setting up the research space, the researcher will need to ensure that everything needed by the subjects is available. The research area is going to be the school computer laboratory. The researcher will use four computers, which will have a stable and fast internet connection. The conditions in the laboratory are going to be ideal for this experiment (Mayhew, 2009).
Evaluation tasks for the test subjects
Opening the website and logging in. this is the first step that the user of the website has to perform in order to use the service. This will require the subject to open the application downloaded to each computer from here they can access the services. This first step is very important as it allows the user to use the service.
The second task will be for the user to open a connection with another computer. The whole service works upon this basis. The connection is opened via the application where the user searches for the particular computer they want to connect. A list of Computers that have been connected previously is available from which the user chooses. For any new connection, the user needs to type the IP address of the computer they wish to connect. This is available on the menu where he subject selects to start a meeting.
The third task the subject will be required to perform is to share the whole desktop of their computer with one other computer. This is available on the menu after a meeting has been started.
The fourth task for the user is to group different computers in the meeting according to privileges. This means that the different computers connected to the meeting can access different applications. This is available on the meeting setup menu.
The fifth task will be for the subject to share specific applications to one computer in the meeting. A number of computers will be taking part in the meeting and only one will have access to the whole desktop of the subject. For example, when making a presentation, the computers in the meeting will only view a PowerPoint presentation while a meeting coordinator can see the whole desktop of the user.
The sixth task will be for the subject to set up an audio call among all the participants.
The seventh task will for the subject to set up a video conference call among all the participants. Both the sixth and seventh tasks are available on the meeting setup menu.
The eighth tasks the subject will be required to perform is to record part of the meeting. This feature is available on the meeting menu, from where there is the option to record the meeting.
The subject will then be required to perform the ninth task, which is to remove one of the participants from the meeting while maintaining a connection with the other participants. This feature is also available on the menu once a meeting has been started. The list of active participants is available from where the user can select a user or multiple users and drop them from the meeting.
Lastly, the subject will be required to end the meeting and retrieve the recording of the meeting.
The researcher will observe as each user performs the tasks required and give a judgment. After each subject has completed the tasks, they will be given a questionnaire to rate specific aspects of the website they have just used.
After filling out the initial questionnaires, the researcher selected four people to proceed to evaluating the website. All the participants were evaluated at the same time since each task required all the users to be in a virtual meeting together. However, each subject went through each f their tasks individually with the other participants waiting for their turn.
Subjects
Age: 33
Gender: male
Languages spoken: English
Highest level of education: university (masters)
Current work: computer programmer
How long have you used computers? 16 years
- Below are the tasks you have performed while using the website. On a scale of 1-10 with 1 being very easy and 10 being very difficult, how would you rate performing the tasks on the website?
- What are the areas of the website that in your opinion can be improved to give a better user experience? Similar tasks can be grouped together in a single menu to make access easier.
- Would you recommend this website to any other user who wishes to perform the tasks required? I would recommend this website to anyone wishing to hold an online meeting.
Age: 24
Gender: female
Languages spoken: English, French
Highest level of education: university
Current work: university student
How long have you used computers? 10 years
- Below are the tasks you have performed while using the website. On a scale of 1-10 with 1 being very easy and 10 being very difficult, how would you rate performing the tasks on the website?
- The user easily located the application and opened it. They logged in easily and proceeded to try out the next task.
- What are the areas of the website that in your opinion can be improved to give a better user experience? The website is properly designed but the graphics can be made to be more legible with de-cluttering of the home page.
- Would you recommend this website to any other user who wishes to perform the tasks required? I would highly recommend this website to other users.
Age: 50
Gender: male
Languages spoken: English
Highest level of education: university
Current work: retail business
How long have you used computers? 5 years
- Below are the tasks you have performed while using the website. On a scale of 1-10 with 1 being very easy and 10 being very difficult, how would you rate performing the tasks on the website?
- What are the areas of the website that in your opinion can be improved to give a better user experience? The website is difficult to comprehend at first. I would recommend the website to show additional information via a text box when you hover the pointer over a menu or task. This would enable a user to get an idea of the functions without having to open it.
- Would you recommend this website to any other user who wishes to perform the tasks required? Yes
Observations
All the subjects were able to perform all the tasks required quite easily. The website is quite advanced and required the subjects to have a history of using computers and websites in particular. The design of the interface is consistent with most websites and it was easy to perform the basic tasks. A few advanced tasks were problematic at first for the subjects but with a little practice they were able to accomplish them as well. The website is organized into a home page where there is a menu of the tasks the user would wish to perform. Each ask on the homepage redirects to a page for that particular task, once the user gets to the task, there are menus to provide tools which make the task easier to perform.
The website was more friendly to young professionals who are likely to have used similar websites in their work. The users were able to perform the tasks assigned to them quickly. In only two instances were the subjects forced to seek assistance from me. This happened once when disconnecting one user from the meeting and once when sharing a specific desktop application to one other participant in the meeting. Users regularly made errors while navigating to the task required but they were able to recover by going back to the home page and repeating the procedure again. Only one case was reported where a user was not able to recover from their error. This happened when recording the meeting was not done and the meeting had to be started all over again.
Recommendations
Most of the users found the website easy to use. Within a few minutes of using the interface, majority of the subjects were able to perform the tasks required. However, some points were identified where improvements could be made. The general organization of the website was good with appropriate menus available for different tasks. However, some users still felt the need to consolidate some of the tasks together. For example, video and audio conferencing are currently available in two different menus. However, it would be ideal if all the calling functionality was available in one menu (Nielsen, 2003).
The desktop sharing task was also quite difficult to perform effectively. The options for choosing to share the whole desktop or a specific application was not straight forward and some users required a few tries to get it right. Generally, the most frequently used tasks in all types of meetings should be available on the meeting homepage rather than from menus. This would make it easy to perform these tasks quickly (Nielsen & Mack, 2004). An example of such a task is recording a meeting. Generally, the website scored highly among all the subjects for all the tasks they were required to do. Lastly, the subjects would recommend the website to others to perform the tasks they did.
Appendix
Sample questionnaire 1
Age
Gender
Languages spoken
Highest level of education
Current work
How long have you used computers?
Sample questionnaire 2
- Below are the tasks you have performed while using the website. On a scale of 1-10 with 1 being very easy and 10 being very difficult, how would you rate performing the tasks on the website?
- What are the areas of the website that in your opinion can be improved to give a better user experience?
- Would you recommend this website to any other user who wishes to perform the tasks required?
References
Barnum, C. (2011). Usability testing essentials. Boston, MA: Morgan Kauffmann.
Dumas, J. S., &Loring, B. (2008).Moderating usability tests. Principles & practices for interacting. Burlington, MA: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers/Elsevier.
Galitz, W. O. (2007). The essential guide to user interface design.An introduction to GUI design principles and techniques. 3rd Edition. New York: John Wiley Publishers.
Kuniavsky, M. (2003).Observing the user experience: A practitioner’s guide for user research.San Francisco, CA: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers.
Leventhal, L. & Barnes, J. (2008).Usability engineering: process, products, and examples. Upper
Mayhew, D. J. (2009).The usability engineering lifecycle: a practitioner’s handbook for user interface design.San Francisco, CA: Morgan Kaufman Publishers.
Nielsen, J. (2003). Usability engineering. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Nielsen, J., & Mack, R. (2004).Usability inspection methods.New York: John Wiley Publishers.
