The Minimal Lab
 Download 'printer-friendly' PDF version (File size: 10 KB)
Labs with one-way mirrors, cameras and video editing facilities are useful for usability testing.
However, it is quite possible to conduct effective testing with very little equipment. You can even conduct software usability testing using a single computer - the participant and host sit together, and the host logs the participant's activities.
If you wish to have observers present, this arrangement quickly becomes impractical. Observers cannot easily see the screen, and it is impossible for them to converse without distracting the participant.
By investing just a little extra, you can have a low-cost usability testing lab that also provides the benefits of catering for observers.
What do you need?
The minimal lab consists of the following:
- Two rooms - one for the participant (and optionally the host, depending on the testing method you use) and one for observers
- A computer to run the software or website you are testing. This computer should be fitted with a sound card and microphone.
- A computer to run the software or website you are testing. This computer should be fitted with a sound card and microphone.
- A computer monitor (for the observers)
- A video splitter device (available from suppliers such as Black Box). This enables you to show the same computer image on two monitors.
- PC speaker, adjacent to the observer monitor
- Cables. You need a long cable to run from the PC sound card to the speaker, and two additional video leads (one from the PC to the splitter, and one from the splitter to the remote monitor). These cables are readily available at computer equipment stores.
Setting up the equipment
Follow the nine steps below.
On the participant computer:
- Connect the microphone to the appropriate input (generally labelled MIC IN or similar)
- Connect the video output to the video splitter input
- Connect one of the video splitter outputs to the monitor
- Load the software to be tested, and make Internet, network or other necessary connections.
In the observer area:
- Set up the remote monitor
- Set up the speaker.
Connect the participant and observer equipment as follows:
- Connect one of the video splitter outputs to the observer monitor
- Connect a lead from the speaker output (generally labelled SPKR OUT or similar) to the speaker in the monitor area.
Set up the audio link:
- Now run the Volume Control or similar software on the participant computer. Ensure that the microphone input and speaker outputs are enabled and the volume control is set at an appropriate level.
The observer monitor should now show the same image as the participant computer, and you should be able to hear the participant through the speaker in the observer area.
Download a 'printer-friendly' PDF version of this sheet
(File size: 10 KB)
|
