Where will usability testing be performed?

Do not let anyone tell you that you need a lab to do usability testing. Sure, you can create a formal setting, but a more casual environment can be just as effective.
Usability testing can be done in any of the following settings:
• A standard laboratory
• A conference room
• A home office
• A work space
• A remote location
Your test area needs to be equipped with permanent audio-visual equipment, portable recording devices, or observers taking notes. Whatever method is the easiest for you to collect accurate test results is fine.

How many participants are required for a usability test?

The amount of participants required for a usability test will depend on the test itself, how many problems you want to find, and how many people you can afford.

A typical test can range from 8 to 16 users per group. This means that, if each user works with you for an hour, you will need 1 or 2 days to complete a single testing session.

The more testers you employ, the more problems you will detect. If you are only concentrating on serious defects, you may only need to hire 4 to 6 people. You also only need a handful of test participants if you:
• Test paper prototypes
• Analyze products in early development stages
• Want to quick-test throughout the development
• Have a rather homogenous user population

If your product’s potential user group is diverse (e.g. researchers, doctors, care givers, patients) you may want to include representatives of all of these groups. You may also want to select experienced and less skilled test participants for products associated to field like the computer, electronics, and internet industry. As not everyone is born a genius, adding less knowledgeable people to your testing groups will give you a more realistic result.

Is usability testing expensive?
Your usability testing cost will depend on the size of the website, how many tests you want to conduct, how many problems you anticipate, how many participants you want to hire, and how formal you want the testing to be.

Testing can be less time consuming and more affordable, if you or your recruiting firm have a standard testing process, reusable materials, and a vast database of users.
When budgeting for usability testing, consider the following:
• Know what you want to test and the types of users to involve in your testing.
• Have a screening questionnaire handy, and write an easy-to-follow test scenario for your participants.
• Set a recruiting budget, which may include the services of an in-house employee, or the cost of a recruiting firm.
• A usability expert will need time to become familiar with the site, and to do a dry run to verify that your testing scenarios will work.
• You may need to rent a testing lab, or portable testing equipment.
• Your test observers will need to be paid for their time.
• Test participants will need to be paid.
• It will take time for you, or your team to check test results, identify problems, and recommend solutions.
• You will need time to discuss changes with your website developers, write up result report, and possible recommendations.

Incorporating usability testing into a website, or any product for that matter, is vital. The more you test, the less mistakes will be incorporated, and the more successful your site will be. Keep that in mind when you’re putting your usability testing budget together!

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