25 April 2007

Video Release Agreement

Below is a sample copy of the video release agreement form that I will be presenting to my formal usability test participants.

Thank you for participating in my research assignment. I will be recording your session for observation purposes. Please read the statement below and sign where indicated. Thank you.

_ _ _ _ _ _

I understand that my test session will be recorded. I grant Anthony Phillips permission to use this recording for academic research ONLY, for the purpose of utilizing my feedback, and waive my rights to review or inspect the recording prior to such use.

Please print your name: ____________________________

Signature: _______________________________

Date:__________________

21 April 2007

Testing Script

Hi, _______. My name is Anthony, and I will be walking you through this session.

Let me explain why we’re here today: I’m testing three web sites to see what they are like for actual people to use. I want to make it clear that we’re testing the sites, not you. You can’t do anything wrong here so don’t worry about making mistakes.

Also, don’t worry about hurting my feelings because I didn’t create the pages you’re going to look at. I want to improve on these sites with my own future design, so I need to know honestly what you think.

As we go along, I’m going to ask you to think out loud, to tell me what’s going through your mind.

If you have questions, just ask. I may not be able to answer them right away, since I’m interested in how people do when they don’t have someone sitting next to them, but I will try to answer any questions you still have when we’re done.

You may have noticed the microphone. With your permission, I’m going to record what happens on the computer screen and what you have to say. The recording will be used only to help me figure out how to improve on the sites, and won’t be seen or heard by anyone except my university instructor and myself. It also helps me, because I don’t have to take as many notes.

If you would, I’m going to ask you to sign something for me. It simply says that I have your permission to record you, but that it will only be used by my university instructor, and myself. Do you have any questions before we begin?

Before we look at the sites, I’d like to ask you just a few quick questions.

  • First, what’s your occupation?
  • Roughly how many hours a week would you say you spend using the Internet, including email?
  • How do you spend that time? In a typical day, for instance, tell me what you do, at work and at home.
  • Do you have any favourite Web sites?
  • OK, let’s have a look at the first web site then.

http://www.netdogz.com

  • First, I’m just going to ask you to look at this page and tell me, at a glance, what do you think this site is about? And again, try to think out loud as much as possible.
  • What draws your attention immediately? And, what would you click on first?
  • Now I am going to get you to have a quick browse around this web site. And, if possible, try to explain your thoughts and feelings, or likes and dislikes about the site.
  • Can you show me how you would you go about contacting this company?

http://www.darwinwebdesign.com.au

  • Now I’m going to ask you to look at this next site and tell me, at a glance, what do you think this site is about? And again, try to think out loud as much as possible.
  • What draws your attention immediately? And, what would you click on first?
  • Now I am going to get you to have a quick browse around this web site. And, if possible, try to explain your thoughts and feelings, or likes and dislikes about the site.
  • Can you show me how you would you go about contacting this company?

http://www.focuswebdesign.com.au

  • Now I’m going to ask you to look at this third and final site and tell me, at a glance, what do you think this site is about? Again, try to think out loud as much as possible.
  • What draws your attention immediately? And, what would you click on first?
  • Now I am going to get you to have a quick browse around this web site. And, if possible, try to explain your thoughts and feelings, or likes and dislikes about the site.
  • Can you show me how you would you go about contacting this company?

Ok. That concludes the session. Thank you very much for assisting me today.

15 April 2007

Questionnaire Results

  1. What is your gender?

Male

3

43%

Female

4

57%

Total Respondents

7

100%

  1. What year were you born?

1983 1981 1975 1969 1967 1967 1961

  1. Which of the following describes you (tick all that apply)?

Student

5

71%

Self-employed/Business owner

5

71%

Employed (full or part time)

2

29%

Homemaker

1

14%

Pensioner

1

14%

  1. Please indicate your highest level of education completed?

Some university

6

86%

Some post graduate

1

14%

Total

7

100%

  1. On average, how many hours per week do you use the Internet?

11-20

1

14%

More than 20

6

86%

Total

7

100%

  1. For how many years have you been a regular Internet user (best estimate)?

2

1

14%

3

1

14%

7

1

14%

8

1

14%

9

1

14%

10

1

14%

15+

1

14%

Total

7

100%

  1. What tasks do you regularly use the Internet for (tick all that apply)?

Shopping

6

86%

Banking

7

100%

Email

7

100%

Chat/IM

4

57%

Academic Research

7

100%

Product/service research

6

86%

Games

3

43%

Promoting a business

3

43%

Conducting a business

4

57%

  1. When you visit a business/shopping website, what website features make you feel comfortable with, and/or trusting of the business?

1

Secure transactions, Professional look/feel

2

Quality of content, quality of products & service, overall design (looks like it's been made by a pro / amateur etc), ease of navigation, security (payments etc).

3

secure banking facilities - names that I know and trust

4

clear navigation and/or instructions

5

paypal, shopping cart, telephone number contact details address

6

Like to see a known company, contact details, abn, business address, prices (some want to hide their prices). I like fluid designs: CSS usually makes a site easier to use and faster to load whereas frames and tables dramatically increase loading times and are problematic. Especially on shopping sites flash can be a real problem; the simpler the site the better that's why ebay is so effective: it's just html & CSS.

7

personal info about the people who work there and their willingness / speediness in answering email queries about the product / service. contact info i guess.

(Similar responses highlighted)

  1. And what do you think is the most important of these website features?

1

Secure transactions

2

Quality of products and service

3

security

4

what website features? or have I missed something

5

paypal

6

definitely CSS for layout

7

person to person communication

(Similar responses highlighted)

  1. What features put you off using a particular business/shopping website?

1

Broken images and links, Splash screens, Slow email response

2

Not enough products / product info, no assurance of secure payment

3

too difficult to navigate

4

pop up ads, unclear navigation and/or instructions

5

no contact details or phone number

6

Do not like broken links on shopping sites eg: woolworths homshop (either their webmaster is overworked or just not keeping up). Slow loading pages (frames and tables) and very poor search tool eg: coles online.. the search usually crashes the site if you try to search for more than one word.

7

too many pages for transaction, slow downloads, self-important marketese and not enough info about product(including tiny images) etc.

(Similar responses highlighted)

11. Do you currently have a business website?

Yes

3

43%

No

4

57%

Total

7

100%

12. Which of the following services would you consider paying for (tick all that apply)?

Website design

3

43%

Website re-design

2

29%

Logo design

4

57%

Shopping cart system

6

86%

Content management system

4

57%

13. What would be your preferred payment option for such services?

Easy online estimate, followed by pre-arranged quote

6

86%

Other - Online Estimate with follow-up discussion and quote

1

14%

Total

7

100%

Notes: Some irrelevant responses may have been excluded from these results.

02 April 2007

Market Research Questionnaire

Please take my market research questionnaire. It will only take a few minutes of your time, and it is 100% anonymous. Thank you in advance.

01 April 2007

Market Research - Site 3 - Darwin Web Design

Similar Topic
Darwin Web Design is a web design company based in Darwin (you wouldn't guess it).

Visual Style
Nothing special about this visual style, other than the scrolling preview (see functionality).

Functionality
The scrolling preview of the website portfolio is a nice touch. I plan to use similar functionality for my upcoming website design. Also, this site has the best contact page of the 3 sites I have reviewed in my Market Research assignment.

Critique!
  • Blindingly bad colour contrast. White background with light coloured text!
  • Hypertext links are not easily discernible from other text content. This is most visible on the home page. The list of coloured headings on the right side of the page does not contain any links!
  • Again, verbosity is an issue.
  • Again, there is not enough white-space.