Freitag

iPad as a Usability Lab

I’m going to a conference on Friday to test the new UI I’ve been building over the last several months. We’ll have a series of one-on-one tests using the computer with Silverback recording the results. Due to the nature of the event as well as the relationship between the participants and the department I’m doing this work for, someone from the department will facilitate the test while the rest of us take notes. This isn’t going to be run in a dedicated usability lab and we would normally have to sit in the room with the participant and take our notes based on what they’re saying without an opportunity to see where they click until we review the video captured in Silverback. This is less than ideal because the participants would be naturally uncomfortable performing the tasks and answering the questions honestly with 5 other people in the room listening. There’s a natural fear of looking foolish which can skew the test results.

But I have a new tool in my arsenal. With the iPad, I can use iTeleport and watch what is happening on the screen live. We can set up in a completely different room, fire up the iPad and iTeleport, have the facilitator call us and put the phone on speaker, and BAM! Make-shift usability lab.

That’s my theory anyway. I’ll update with the results.