Synonyms
Definition
Usability testing is a systematic evaluation of a product with the ultimate goal of improving the product’s design.
Description
Usability evaluation can be conducted by experts, without or with potential end users; this entry focuses on the latter. Through systematic observation of a planned task or scenario carried out by an actual or potential user, usability testing is a method of evaluation that involves testing users’ interactions with a product and system to improve design (Usability.gov). This process is intended to ensure that a technology is intuitive and easy to use, with the importance ranging from lifesaving (e.g., in use of hospital equipment) to convenience (e.g., saving time on a task; (Tullis and Albert 2008). This process also provides actionable answers to questions that are critical for organizations, researchers, clinicians, etc., which are developing or using products. Usability standards have been developed and validated...
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References and Further Reading
Bevan, N. (2009) “Usability.” Encyclopedia of database systems (pp. 3247–3251). New York: Springer.
Chiu, T. M., & Eysenbach, G. (2010). Stages of use: Consideration, initiation, utilization, and outcomes of an internet-mediated intervention. BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making, 10(73). doi:10.1186/1472-6947-10-73.
Davis, F. D. (1989). Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user acceptance of information technology. MIS Quarterly, 13(3), 319–340.
Lewis, J. R. (1994). Sample sizes for usability studies: Additional considerations. Human Factors, 36(2), 368–378.
Lin, H. X., Choong, Y. Y., & Salvendy, G. (1997). A proposed index of usability: A method for comparing the relative usability of different software systems. Behaviour and Information Technology, 16(4/5), 267–278.
Lund, A. M. (2001). Measuring usability with the USE questionnaire. STC Usability SIG Newsletter, 8(2), 3–6.
Nielsen, J. (1993). Usability engineering. New York: Academic.
Nielsen, J., & Landauer, T. K. (1993). A mathematical-model of the finding of usability problems. Human Factors in Computing Systems, 206–213.
Price, M., Yuen, E. K., Goetter, E. M., Herbert, J. D., Forman, E. M., Acierno, R., & Ruggiero, K. J. (2014). mHealth: A mechanism to deliver more accessible, more effective mental health care. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 21(5), 427–436. doi:10.1002/cpp.1855.
Snyder, C. (2006). Bias in usability testing. Paper presented at the Boston Mini-UPA Conference, Natick, MA.
Stanton, B. (2015). Industry usability reporting. Retrieved from https://www.nist.gov/itl/iad/industry-usability-reporting.
Tullis, T., & Albert, B. (2008). Measuring the user experience: Collecting, analyzing, and presenting usability metrics. Burlington: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers.
Usability.gov. Usability testing. Methods.
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Stiles-Shields, C., Montague, E. (2017). Usability Testing. In: Gellman, M., Turner, J. (eds) Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6439-6_101955-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6439-6_101955-1
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