The Usability Study (US) project results in you/your team designing and executing a multi-method examination of an object of study (OoS). The culmination of this work is a report document. The US project is challenging because it requires you to apply 3+ methods for assessing usability to the study of an appropriate OoS, to interpet the results of those studies, and to articulate the results of that work in a detailed report.
This project requires draft and final submissions. Project files are submitted to a Usability Study folder in your shared course space on Dropbox.com.
Your draft submission includes the following documents:
See the Submission Guidelines for details.
Your final submission includes the documents from the draft stage of the project plus the following documents:
See the Submission Guidelines for details.
Document type(s): memo, report
Document length(s): 150 words (memo), 1500 to 2000 words (report)
Project value: 450 points (50 point for the draft, 400 points for the final submission)
Evaluation rubric: _RPW375_Eval_UsabilityStudy.pdf
The US project really comes down to two principal stages: the study, the report. To accomplish both, you need to first identify an object of study (OoS). Remember that the study demonstrates your understanding of that OoS through the methods you apply to it, and the report signals your understanding of the OoS through your explanation of the methods you apply and of the conclusions you draw from your study.
You may complete this project on your own or in partnership with one or two others.
This work calls for systematic, disciplined study of the OoS you select. To speak credibly about any OoS, you must understand it thoroughly. The only way to accomplish that state is to experience for yourself what it means to use the object of study. With that in mind, allow yourself ample time to conduct a thorough and detailed examination of the OoS prior to designing a study of it.
Consider the merits of selecting an OoS that represents an area of expertise you are in the process of developing, or an industry within which you might seek employment, or a product category significant to your career goals. It might represent something you use to do your job or something that results from your job. However, given that our expertise as technical communicators can be applied in any industry, if you have not yet settled on a target industry for your career, that will not impede your success here.
All of that said, what does it mean to select an appropriate object of study for this project? Consider the following possibilities.
Your US can focus on an object of study from any category. However, to complete the research processes associated with this assignment, you must have access to the OoS, and must be able to allow others to interact with it during your usability studies. Keep these things in mind when making your selection.
Your usability study will include at least 4 elements. Everyone will design a set of 2 to 3 personas that represent key stakeholders/users associated with the OoS. In addition, you will apply 3 methods of study to your OoS, at least one of which must represent experience-centered methods (see the "UX Methods Toolkit" from earlier course materials). That is, although some methods may represent interpretive, narrative, or dialogic research methods, you must engage in at least one set of trials that involve real users of the OoS (or the closest approximation you can manage) interacting with the OoS in a manner relevant to its intended function.
During the first phase of the course, you were offered opportunities to experience more than a dozen usability methods. In addition, you have permission to adapt existing methods to better suit your needs, or to develop a new method of study to apply here. Your task now is to assemble a workable strategy for applying 3 or more methods to your OoS to determine its usability and to examine how users interact with it in its context of use.
Remember that data gathering is an essential component of your usability study activities. Your study and the lessons you learn from your research are only as valuable as the data you gather. Your baseline method of recording is video. Resort to audio only recording only when video recording is not possible. Develop a note page that helps you to process the recordings you gather.
You'll need to create 2 to 3 draft personas at the outset of the study. You'll revise these tools for your final report. Of course, you are welcome to revise them continuously throughout the project, if that offers you valuable insight into the process.
Each persona should fit on a single 8.5x11 (letter) or 8.4x14 (legal) page, and should incorporate appropriate content and design elements. You may customize your persona content based on the examples we have explored during our class discussions. Consider the following possibilities.
Concise, concrete detail makes a good persona. Consider both text-based and visual representations of content here.
This report should be a detailed discussion of the object of study, the usability study you design and execute to examine the OoS, the data that results from your study, and of the conclusions you draw from your study.
Your report should incorporate all of the following content and design elements.
Note. Do not propose design solutions in this section. That work is the focus of the Recommendations Report that comes later. Here your task is only to frame your conclusions from the study itself.
A memo of transmittal introduces the accompanying document to its audience(s). Your memos should be addressed from your team to me, and should frame your plan submission. Your memo should incorporate the following content elements.
Note that if you work with others, your team can submit one memo. All team members should be represented in the From heading.
Read and attend carefully to these submission guidelines. Failure to do so may result in delays in receiving feedback on the draft of your project, or in points lost on the final evaluation of your project.
You/your team should create a project folder inside your shared class folder on Dropbox.com. If you work in a team, you need only post one submission there. Remember, I can only view files that you place inside the class folder. Until your files are placed in that space, you have not in practice submitted them.
Name the folder Usability Study.
However, do not share the project folder with me. I will not accept that invitation to view its contents. As long as you place your project files in the folder you created and shared in response to the Week 1 discussions, you are set for the semester.
Make sure the files listed below are available to me in the project folder by the final deadline. Model your filenames on the listed examples:
Note. Do not share the individual files with me. By placing them in your project folder, you have already shared them by default.
Make sure the files listed below are available to me in the project folder by the final deadline. Model your filenames on the listed examples:
Note. Do not share the individual files with me. By placing them in your project folder, you have already shared them by default.
This section describes the standards by which your draft and final submissions will be evaluated.
There are 50 possible points for the draftof this project. You will earn points according to the following standard.
There are 400 possible points for the final project. You will earn points according to the standard described on the policies page (40% content development, 20% design execution, and 20% professionalism & attention to detail, and 20% impact of revision; see Policies). The specific areas of emphasis for this project are drawn from the description and discussion of the project, and are detailed in the evaluation rubric (_RPW375_Eval_UsabilityStudy.pdf).
Remember that I will only post the point values for projects on the Grades page in SVSU Canvas. I will post the details relevant to that evaluation in your class folder in a project-specific file.
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