In Praise of Usability Testing

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Documentation usability testing has been with us at least since 1983. But, to all intents and purposes, it seems that there is still very little testing being done.

Of all the documentation quality assurance activities that we can carry out, usability testing represents one of the best values in the process chain. Without devaluing any of the other quality assurance functions, it is safe to say that money spent on usability testing is extremely well spent. Unfortunately, we don't appear to be spending very much money on this subject that I can see.

As a point of reference, consider that the average software development project allocates around 30% of its budget to testing. Although I'm not advocating spending anywhere near that amount, even a fraction would significantly improve the quality of the documentation and information that we provide to our users.

You certainly don't need an elaborate lab bristling with video equipment and a cast of test subjects to do worthwhile usability testing. There are many modest and practical test methods that will yield significant information about the usability of your documentation.

The second quarter 1991 issue of the STC journal, Technical Communication, has three excellent articles on usability testing with an introduction by Roger Grice. In particular, the article by John Craig has a comprehensive, five-part bibliography:

• Introductory and Overview Sources
• User-testing strategies
• Field testing
• Document design issues
• Studies of related documentation

Be sure to read John's article because the sources he cites will give you virtually everything that you need to know about the subject.

Doing a little further research on my own, here are some other resources on the subject.

1. The American Institute for Research in Washington D.C. is one of the leading establishments carrying out usability testing for its clients.
2. The NCR Publications Center, Dayton, Ohio, markets a validation kit that is an excellent way to get started in the field. The kit, which sells for $200, contains an instructional video, a methodology manual, and a book of forms and reports proforma.
3. The Centre for Professional Writing at the University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario provides usability testing services for documentation and products.
4. Comtec Services of Denver Colorado, provides workshops in practical usability testing. (See the Intercom for advertisements.)

In conclusion, I would strongly encourage you to take the plunge and start testing. It will be one of the best investments that you could possibly make in the interest of documentation quality.

References

Joseph Eyre, Mary Ann Dohn Moore and Thomas Rideout; Testing Software Installation Procedures: An Integrated Approach; 36th International Technical Communication Conference, Detroit, May 1986.

John Gould and Clayton Lewis; Designing for Usability: Key Principles and What Designers Think; Communications of ACM, 28(3): 300-311, 1985.

Paul Yee and R. Allen Harris; A Usable Usability Paper - A Practical Approach to Usability Testing; Proceedings of Technicom '89 Conference, STC Toronto, September 1989.