Handbook of Usability Testing: Howto Plan, Design, and Conduct Effective Tests [Paperback]

Jeffrey Rubin (Author), Dana Chisnell (Author), Jared Spool (Foreword)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0470185481 | ISBN-13: 978-0470185483 | Publication Date: May 12, 2008 | Edition: 2

Whether it?s software, a cell phone, or a refrigerator, your customer wants?no, expects?your product to be easy to use. This fully revised handbook provides clear, step-by-step guidelines to help you test your product for usability. Completely updated with current industry best practices, it can give you that all-important marketplace advantage: products that perform the way users expect. You?ll learn to recognize factors that limit usability, decide where testing should occur, set up a test plan to assess goals for your product?s usability, and more.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Is your product user-friendly? Take these steps to find out

Whether it's software, technical documentation, a cell phone, or a refrigerator, your customer wants — no, expects — your product to be easy to use. This fully revised handbook, a leading resource since 1994, provides clear, step-by-step guidelines to help you test your product for usability. Completely updated with current industry best practices and more varied examples, it can give you that all-important marketplace advantage: products that perform the way users expect.

• Learn to recognize factors that limit usability

• Decide whether testing should occur in a lab setting or at the site where the product is used

• Set up a test plan to assess goals for your product's usability

• Choose and train effective test moderators

• Decide on the best way to collect and review data

• Report the results and make recommendations

• Learn user-centered design principles and practices — the context for usability testing

• Reap the benefits of templates, tables, models, case studies, and other tools of the trade

Companion Web site
Go to www.wiley.com/go/usabilitytesting to find additional case examples, samples, and templates

About the Author

Jeffrey Rubin, author of the first edition of this book, has more than 30 years of experience as a human factors and usability research consultant and lecturer. A pioneer in the field of usability testing, he has consulted for leading companies worldwide.

Dana Chisnell is an independent user researcher and usability consultant. She has done usability, user interface design, and technical communications consulting and development since 1982.

For more information, please access the author's website at
http://www.usabilityworks.net

Author's blog:
http://usabilitytestinghowto.blogspot.com

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 2 edition (May 12, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470185481
• ISBN-13: 978-0470185483
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #76,599 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #12 in Books > Science & Math > Experiments, Instruments & Measurement > Measurement
  • #47 in Books > Computers & Technology > Computer Science > Human-Computer Interaction
  • #61 in Books > Computers & Technology > Graphic Design > Interface Design

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars led me to userfly, July 28, 2010

By 

Jeff (mountain view, ca, US) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Handbook of Usability Testing: Howto Plan, Design, and Conduct Effective Tests (Paperback)

This book is absolutely perfect. I received my copy of it last night and stayed most of the night reading through it as I simply couldn't put it down. I've been working as an interaction designer / usability tester for a couple of years and this has overnight become my new favourite reference book. It's easy to read without glossing over essential detail (a criticism I have of many modern usability books). This book is filled with practical advice on how to communicate data, manage integrity and measure the user experience in a business setting.

I followed the recommendations and researched a method to cheaply run user tests and decided on [...]. It allowed me to view videos of my users interacting with my site!!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great reference book for usability testing, July 18, 2009

By 

Gócza Zoltán Károly (Budapest, Hungary) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Handbook of Usability Testing: Howto Plan, Design, and Conduct Effective Tests (Paperback)

This book is a very thorough reference book for usability testing. It's a bit lengthy and covers lots of topics but very well structured so you can always jump to a specific subject if you have questions about it.

It covers most of what you need to know to start testing (from designing the test until analyzing it) and advanced methods as well (like playing the devil's advocate during a session).

The book is mostly focused on the methodology, though there are many practical tips and good ideas on how to improve in testing.

I love it as a reference book, I always find myself re-reading the book before and after conducting tests. I'd recommend it to professionals who are new to usability testing and also for practitioners who would like to deepen their knowledge.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must-read, March 25, 2010

By 

Stephen Krug "author of Don't Make Me Think" (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Handbook of Usability Testing: Howto Plan, Design, and Conduct Effective Tests (Paperback)

For 14 years, Jeff Rubin's Handbook has been one of the most useful resources for anyone interested in doing usability testing.

Now Dana Chisnell has done an outstanding job of bringing it up to date--and much more. From cover to cover, it's full of useful insights about every aspect of testing, based on the cumulative experience of two seasoned---and very smart--practitioners. And it's a pleasure to read.

If you do usability testing, or you're interested in learning how it's done, this book is a must-read.