Interaction Design, 6th Edition

Chapter 15EVALUATION STUDIES: FROM CONTROLLED TO NATURAL SETTINGS

• 15.1 Introduction
• 15.2 Usability Testing
• 15.3 Conducting Experiments
• 15.4 In-the-Wild Studies

 

Objectives

The main goals of the chapter are to accomplish the following:

• Explain how to do usability testing.
• Describe how different types of studies are being done remotely.
• Outline the basics of experimental design.
• Describe how to do in-the-wild studies.

15.1 Introduction

Imagine that you have designed a new app to allow school children ages 9 or 10 years old and their parents to share caring for the class hamster over the school holidays. The app will schedule which children are responsible for the hamster and when, and it will record when it is fed. The app will also provide detailed instructions about when the hamster is scheduled to go to another family and the arrangements about when and where it will be handed over. In addition, both teachers and parents will be able to access the schedule and send and leave messages for each other. How would you find out whether the children, their teacher, and their parents can use the app effectively and whether it is satisfying to use? What evaluation methods would you employ?

In this chapter, we describe evaluation studies that take place in a spectrum of settings, from controlled laboratories to in-the-wild studies (sometimes referred to as natural settings or field studies), and from face-to-face situations to remote settings using digital technologies. ...