Even though I have been doing usability testing for several years, I had never taken a usability test until recently. Taking the test vs. being the moderator is a totally different experience. Well, duh. It’s a study in what “experience” means, i.e. I never presumed that I was having the same experience as a tester – but neither did I realize how radically different my experience was either. I had set up a relaxed environment, tried to calm my participant by assuring them we were testing the user interface and not him or her and that there were no right or wrong answers. And while there was no aromatherapy, I did the best I could to make testing reasonably pleasant.

I ended up being a test taker because my mentor had some questions about whether his test script was going to cover the high-risk issues he was concerned about. This test concerned an area of the application I was not familiar with, and neither of us had been involved in the design work.

First task, I did not have a clue. I was stuck; then I backed up and went down several rabbit holes. I was thinking aloud and being recorded. Each task was more challenging than the last. I became painfully aware of saying “uh-oh”, a lot. I knew “I” wasn’t being tested, and that anything that happened wasn’t a reflection on my abilities – after all it said so in the script. But on an emotional level, I was back in fourth grade, floundering. (I had moved several times by the time I was nine and missed out on learning the 8 through 12 times tables – sometimes I still have to do times 12 by doing 10 times plus 2 times.)

There is no such thing as passing or failing a usability test. But I was pretty sure I wasn’t getting a gold star; even though there was no gold star to be had. My fourth grade brain was worried. Was a modal window was going to pop-up “Quick, what’s 8 x 12? Entry Field, OK/Cancel” a potentially eternal loop. Of course, that didn’t happen.

I listened to the recording afterward, to check the quality and bump up the sound a little.
Yup, there were an alarming number of “uh-ohs”. It was awfully tempting to press Erase. But I didn’t. My mentor was happy with the results because it showed some opportunities to tweak the tasks and the script.

And, actually, I was satisfied too. I had experienced a usability test from the other side, with some memorable results. I now knew the hapless feeling of operating publically in trial and error mode. I had experienced how vulnerable a tester feels. I’ll remember that.

And, while I knew I should be thinking “stupid interface” my gut reaction was “stupid me”. I’ll remember that too.

A Few Usability Testing Resources
How to conduct “guerilla testing” to perfect usability
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Usability Testing Outlined – University of Texas
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How Many Users to Test? Jakob Nielsen
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Introduction to Usability Testing
Link
Usability Testing Materials – Information & Design
Link
Usability Testing Process
Link