User-Participatory Idea Generation for Usability Testing of Information Appliances

Abstract: Usability testing has increasingly become useful tool as products become complex and smart enough to support cognitive aspects of human being. Among various methods for usability testing, particularly, lab-based usability testing is one of the most widely implemented methods for its advantage of collection of rich data and user’s direct involvement. In spite of its advantages, however, the method still has critical disadvantages such as high cost, time and effort, unnatural testing environment, and lack of user’s direct participation to idea generation. With these backgrounds, this paper aims to develop the web-based tool for user-participatory usability testing for information appliances with particular focus on idea-generative aspect. Tool called RUTIA (Remote Usability Testing for Information Appliances) was developed for allowing user to participate usability testing in his own computer through web. All the data generated while user is participating usability testing session are automatically sent to the server, which makes it very easy to collect usability data. With RUTIA, users can drag cards of interface elements directly and build the interface structure in their own from their computer-screen so that they can represent their mental models on interface structure of testing product (card-sorting). Besides, users can also directly participate to layout the control buttons of testing products by simple drag and drop. This function of users ’ direct involvement can improve the method of usability testing by reinforcing idea-generative aspect which has been neglected by conventional usability testing methods. A case study with the application of the tool showed that the tool is very valuable to understand users ’ conceptual models of product