Students in the Fall 2011 COM 597 course on usability testing enjoyed a hands-on experience as they completed an end-to-end usability test for one of several companies in the Puget Sound area. With the help of the MCDM network, Lecturer David Evans, Ph.D. recruited the organizations who ranged from start-ups, to global non-profits, to enterprise ventures. Each organization was assigned 2 student analysts, who developed and ran a usability testing protocol to identify how the organizations could better align their interfaces with their users' needs.
"What we were aiming for was a win-win-win," says Dr. Evans, whose firm Psychster Inc. has been conducting usability research since 2006. "Organizations received inexpensive research insights, students gained a portfolio-quality experience, and the MCDM deepened its relationship with the technology community."
In the first month of the course, students learned usability testing techniques, which involve individually interviewing users as they react to, or perform tasks on, a digital interface. Students adapted their scripts to address client's questions, and they learned how to minimize bias that, without proper training, can lead users to answer in unnatural ways. Finally, they mastered screen-sharing software so they could conduct and record the interviews remotely, which saves facilities costs and travel time for both clients and research participants.
Understandably, the organizations began the partnership with cautious optimism, but they were universally impressed with the outcome. "The report we received was of very high quality and of value to our company." said Karrie Hungerford of Giving Gets Results.
Brenda Walker of Act Local Media agreed: "The overall quality of the report far exceeded expectations.." You can review the report that MCDM's Jeff Barr and Amanda McNeil prepared for Act Local here: http://psychster.com/library/Presentation_ACT_REVISED.pptx .
David Zimmerman of LexisNexis went on to explain the real benefits they received: "It was a very comprehensive analysis, which generated some good discussion. It also helped us validate some areas of improvement that we had been considering, as well as some new ideas we hadn't yet thought about."
Some of the professional relationships forged between students and organizations have already continued past the end of the term. Bill Leath of Pinnion Research benefitted so much from the work he received from MCDM's Katia Farage and Janae Gerard, and "the 'flavor' they added beyond the report,' that he has continued to engage them in ongoing consultation.
"All of the students in the class delivered truly first-rate work," said Dr. Evans . "And the real winners here are the users. There's just nothing like a usability test to expose the friction points and areas of misalignment that can make or break the customer experience - and the organization."
Companies interested in volunteering for future classes can complete this online form http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2VTS7RZ . To learn when the course will be offered again, bookmark and monitor MCDM's curriculum page at http://mcdm.washington.edu/academic-programs/curriculum/courses/ .
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