1. Describe at least three different types of expert review methods.

Heuristic evaluation is where experts review an interface and decide whether or not it conforms to well-established rules, such as the Eight Golden Rules. Guidelines review is where the interface is reviewed in order to see if it conforms to the guidelines established by the organization. Consistency inspection is when the interface is compared to other interfaces in order to check for consistent fonts, formats, schemes, and other details.

  1. Compare and contrast controlled psychological experiments and usability tests in the evaluation process of user interfaces. Be sure to include the benefits and limitations of each.

In a psychological experiment, the method of testing the interface is more empirical: one gathers evidence for or against the usability of the interface through surveys and other techniques. However, it is harder to use psychological experiments because you have to find very specific things about the interface to test and a sample of users who match the demographic of users who will see the interface. In a usability test, however, the tests are more subjective. One can ask the user, “Did you enjoy using the interface,” for example. However, usability tests are less empirical.

  1. Give two reasons why expert reviews are useful. Also give two limitations of expert reviews.

Expert reviews are useful because usability experts are trained to know exactly what to look for in an interface and how to find it quickly to make sure it is high quality. One limitation of expert reviews is that the expert might not fully understand the scope of the project and might not give advice geared towards the actual desired functionality. Also, the expert might not be familiar with the user group who is intended to use the product and might make suggestions which are irrelevant to them.

For questions 5-7, refer to the following instructions:

One argument against the current interface design of a popular word processor is that it has all the functional menu items appearing together which cause the interface to be too complex. This complexity results in a confusing and frustrating experience for novice users. An alternative design is to provide different levels of functional complexity, so users can choose the level that is suitable for them, then advance to higher level as they get familiar with the tool, thus feel more comfortable and learn more efficiently. You are asked to conduct usability testing to compare these two designs.

  1. Which type of usability testing should be used for this situation? Explain why.

Competitive usability testing should be use to compare the new version of the interface which allows you to move up to higher levels of complexity to the old interface which does not. This would allow for a good side-by-side comparison of the usability of each version.

  1. List some general principles of subject selection in usability testing. How should you select subjects for this case?

It would make sense to pick a group of familiar users and a group of unfamiliar users and find how they feel about hiding parts of the interface. One reason for this is that the advanced users might be unhappy that the features they like to use are hidden. Also, it is important to see if the unfamiliar users wish that they could see some of the more advanced features.

  1. List and briefly describe the steps in the usability testing you would conduct.

I would create a survey of possible problems or benefits the users might find and ask them to rate how they believe the product stacks up. For example, if they thought there was not enough buttons on the page, there would be a spot for them to mark that they were dissatisfied with the number of buttons on the page.