Product Inspection
While usability testing is an established service at the University of Minnesota, there are additional methods that you can apply to identify and address usability issues earlier in the development cycle. These methods of product inspection give a structure to enhance your product, website, or service.
Expert Review
A method by Whitney Quesenbery and Caroline Jarrett can provide quick and user-focused insights. Their (user-centered) expert review is designed for rapid, user-centered inspections within a short timeframe. It is particularly useful for early-stage prototypes or when time and resources are limited. Their 30-minute method involves five steps that you or a coworker can do on your own:
- Don’t look at it (yet)!
- You never get a second chance for your “first look.”
- Write a (short) story.
- Who is using this product?
- Why are they doing it?
- How do they feel about it?
- What do they expect to happen?
- How are they different from you right now?
- Try to use it (following the story).
- Start from “Why are they using this product?”
- If they are looking for information, try to find it (or find the first step you would take)
- If they are trying to do something, try to do it (or find the place to do it)
- What else do they want to know? Can they find the information they need?
- What are they trying to do?
- What questions do they have?
- What else do they want to know?
- Can they find the information they need?
- Start from “Why are they using this product?”
- Now look at it (now that you’ve had a chance to use it).
- Relationship: How did user goals and business goals align?
- Conversation: Were headings and text helpful and informative?
- Interaction: Could the user find a good “first click” or know how to use an interactive feature?
- Appearance: Does it look tidy and attractive? Did the visual design help or hinder?
- Report
- What are the problems you saw? Address each of the four topics you had in mind when you used it.
- Relationship
- Conversation
- Interaction
- Appearance
- Find at least one positive point.
- What are the problems you saw? Address each of the four topics you had in mind when you used it.
Heuristic Evaluation
A heuristic evaluation is a systematic and detailed method to assess a product or service against established usability principles. A few members of your team start by examining the interface, then identify issues that impact how it adheres to recognized principles. This rigorous method is now widely taught and practiced among user-experience researchers.
To request a consultation and get started, contact Usability Services. Or learn about the Heuristic Evaluation method with this four-minute overview:
- Nielsen Norman Group. (2019, October 4.) Heuristic Evaluation of User Interfaces [Video]. YouTube.
Triangulation
Compared to usability testing, product inspection can be a cost-effective means to identify common issues quickly. However, expert reviews and heuristic evaluation do not replace user research — they augment user research. There can never be user experience research without users.
Many teams might benefit from combining a heuristic evaluation alongside a usability evaluation. This approach supports the concept of triangulation, a tactic to improve the effectiveness of qualitative research by combining two or more related collection methods to reduce the bias of a single source method or researcher.
For more about product inspection methods, the University of Minnesota Libraries offer materials at no cost:
Barnum, C. M. (2020). Exploring the Usability and UX Toolkit. In C. M. Barnum, Usability testing essentials : ready, set-- test! (Second edition.., pp. 35–67). Morgan Kaufmann.