Moderating Usability Tests

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Preface

From many conversations with other usability testers, we know that our training as

moderators was typical. We both learned how to moderate usability tests the same way:

a colleague let us watch a few sessions and then watched us struggle for one or two ses-

sions. There was no formal training and no set of professionally accepted procedures.

Since then, we have moderated numerous usability tests and watched thousands of ses-

sions and debated good and bad practices with colleagues over the years. Clearly, a logical

and practical approach to training moderators to be as effective as possible in the pursuit

of valid usability testing was ...