Beyond the Usability Lab

6.5. Segmentation analysis

Sometimes it's helpful to look at subsets, or segments, of data in comparison to each other. Two of the most common ways of segmenting are by groups of participants or groups of tasks.

6.5.1. Segmenting by participants

In some online studies you care about how different groups or segments of participants did in comparison to each other. Some of the segments you might be interested in include the following:

• Existing users of a site vs new users
• Users with higher levels of expertise relative to the subject matter of the site vs those with lower levels of expertise
• Users with more Web experience vs those with less Web experience
• Younger users vs older users
• Users from one country or part of the world vs another ...