Userfocus Usability Newsletter, April 2008

Welcome to the April edition of the Userfocus usability newsletter. This month, we have an article proving that you can do statistics even if you hate maths and we also have a major update to our Datalogger usability testing tool.

Are you at CHI this year? If you are attending this year's CHI Conference in Italy please stop one of our consultants and say hello. We'd like to put a face to the e-mail address!

Feature Article: SPSS: Statistics for the mathematically challenged

Many people enjoy behavioural research, whether it's running a usability test, fielding a survey or observing people doing their jobs. Finding things out and making new discoveries excites our natural human curiosity. But when faced with the task of analysing the data behind the research, many people feel their excitement drain away. Most of us are not excellent mathematicians and the notion of using data to test scientific hypotheses can be intimidating. But data analysis is an important aspect of virtually all research. So how can you overcome a fear of maths to learn how to use statistics? Read the article in full: SPSS: Statistics for the mathematically challenged

Datalogger V5.0 is here

Most people use Microsoft Excel to analyse the results of usability tests, but did you know you can use it to collect the data too? This spreadsheet allows you to measure task completion rates, analyse questionnaire data, and summarise participant comments. It even includes a timer so you can measure time-on-task. The spreadsheet is highly customisable and now at Version 5.0. Excel Datalogger

Usability Training: Now Booking

How to carry out an expert review, April 15 2008, London

For people in design teams who need to spot usability problems in prototypes and finished products, How to carry out a usability expert review  is a 1-day seminar that teaches delegates cost-effective methods to evaluate designs. Unlike courses in usability testing, this seminar teaches delegates how to find and fix usability problems without involving end users. More information about this training course: Expert Review training.

SPSS Essentials, May 6 2008, London

For researchers involved in analysing data within their organisation, "SPSS Essentials" is a 1-day workshop that shows delegates how to use SPSS to input and analyse data and how to interpret and present the results. Unlike advanced statistical courses, this workshop focuses on descriptive statistical techniques like means, medians and cross-tabulation. More information about this training course: SPSS Essentials training.

Advanced Statistics Using SPSS, May 7 2008, London

For researchers involved in analysing data within their organisation, "Advanced statistics using SPSS" is a 1-day workshop that shows delegates how to use SPSS to perform advanced statistical analyses. Unlike beginner courses, this workshop focuses on inferential statistical techniques like correlational analyses, regression and ANOVA. More information about this training course: Advanced SPSS training.