Endorsements
"Jennifer did an excellent job leading the usability test effort for the feature for which I am currently the development lead. She was well-organized, professional, and enthusiastic about ensuring the success of our feature."
- Elise Matefy, Principal Software Engineer, RSA Security
September 5, 2007
Usability Planning
My Philosophy
Someone once said, "Novices spend 20% of their time planning and 80% of their time doing, whereas experts spend 80% of their time planning and 20% of their time getting it right."
From my experience, testing for usability is most effective when plans are thorough and agreed upon by all team members. It is important to agree upon the goals for the testing (i.e. what is to be learned, which areas are to be improved), the target users, the measurements to be used, and the overall schedule in advance of testing.
Samples
Usability Plan Template (pdf)
Page from an html prototype used in usability testing
Another page from an html prototype used in usability testing