UX newsletter — March 2019Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. Message from the EditorA few years back, I overheard a conversation between an experienced user researcher and a junior colleague. The junior colleague had been tasked by his team with discovering which of two alternative designs users preferred. He was asking for advice on how best to plan the research. The senior user researcher took a deep breath. She said, "User researchers only care about 'preference' once you've got two perfect alternatives. This will probably never happen in your lifetime." Since then, I've seen preference testing become more, not less popular in user research. This month I wanted to explain why it has no place in your research toolbox. I hope you find it useful. — David Travis Repeat after me: Preference testing is not A/B TestingResearchers sometimes ask participants which of two alternative designs they prefer. The data from these studies comprise opinions that have little predictive value. In contrast, multivariate A/B testing involves target users doing real tasks. The data from these studies comprise behavioural observations that predict real-world behaviour. Read the article in full: Repeat after me: Preference testing is not A/B Testing From our archives: Measuring satisfaction: Beyond the usability questionnaireMost usability tests culminate with a short questionnaire that asks the participant to rate, usually on a 5- or 7-point scale, various characteristics of the system. Experience shows that participants are reluctant to be critical of a system, no matter how difficult they found the tasks. This article describes a guided interview technique that overcomes this problem based on a word list of over 100 adjectives. We also include a spreadsheet to generate and randomise the word list. Read the article in full: Measuring satisfaction: Beyond the usability questionnaire. What we’re readingSome interesting UX-related articles that got our attention over the last month:
Like these? Want more? View our posts on Twitter or Facebook. Upcoming UX training coursesUser Research Fundamentals, June 3-7 2019, London.A 5-day immersion seminar that shows you how Government Digital Services (GDS) plan and carry out user research within Government. You'll practice interviewing and contextual research, carry out usability testing, explore the bigger picture of assisted digital and discover how to plan user research on agile projects. View the full syllabus: User Research Fundamentals. Foundation Certificate in User Experience, July 9-11 2019, London.In this fun and hands-on training course, you'll practice all the key areas of UX — from interviewing your users through to prototyping and usability testing your designs — while you prepare for and take the BCS Foundation Certificate exam. View the full syllabus: Foundation Certificate in User Experience. UX quotation of the month"Wallowing in that state of not knowing is not easy, but it's necessary." — David Kelley, Founder of IDEO. Did I mention I've published a book?It's titled Think Like a UX Researcher and you can get free bonus content if you order it in the next two weeks. Hungry for more?Want to receive your own copy of this newsletter?Join our community of people interested in user experience. Sent monthly. No spam. |