Streams, Walls, and Feeds: 109 Design Guidelines for Improving Notifications, Messages, and Alerts Sent Through Social Networks and RSS

Chapter . Methodology: Second Study (Social Networks and RSS Feeds)

The purpose of our second study was to evaluate the usability of messages sent from companies and organizations through social networks, and to re-evaluate and update the existing guidelines (as necessary) for RSS.

Our second study involved two types of data collection: one-on-one usability test sessions and a 4-week diary study.

One-on-One Usablity Test Sessions

We held the lab studies in informal office settings in two cities: Portsmouth, NH and Sydney, Australia. In total, we conducted lab studies with 19 participants. In Portsmouth, New Hampshire, we tested with 12 users; eight sessions were conducted with people who used social networks and RSS feeds for personal reasons, and ...