First Fridays Usability Testing Script
[email protected] / howto.gov/firstfridays
Hi, ___________. My name is ___________, and I’m going to be walking you through this
session today.
Before we begin, I have some information for you, and I’m going to read it to make
sure that I cover everything.
We’re asking people to try using a website that we’re working on so we can see
whether it works as intended. The session should take about an hour.
The first thing I want to make clear right away is that we’re testing the site, not you.
You can’t do anything wrong here. In fact, this is probably the one place today
where you don’t have to worry about making mistakes.
As you use the site, I’m going to ask you as much as possible to try to think out
loud: to say what you’re looking at, what you’re trying to do, and what you’re
thinking. This will be a big help to us in terms of understanding your experience.
Also, please don’t worry that you’re going to hurt our feelings. We’re doing this to
improve the site, so we need to hear your honest reactions. Any comments about
the site are welcome.
If you have any questions as we go along, just ask them. I’ll answer them
immediately if I can, or after the test. And if you need to take a break at any point,
just let me know.
You may have noticed the speakerphone / microphone. There are a few people
from the Web design team observing this session in another room. They can’t see
us, but they can hear our voices and see what’s happening on your computer
screen.
If you would, I’m going to ask you to sign a simple permission form for us. It just
says that we have your permission to record this session and use this as a product
of our test.
Do you have any questions so far?
OK. Before we look at the site, I’d like to ask you just a few quick questions.
First, what’s your occupation? What do you do all day?
Now, roughly how many hours a week altogether—just a ballpark estimate— would
you say you spend using the Internet, including Web browsing and email, at work
and at home?
What kinds of sites are you looking at when you browse the Web? (in brief)
When you visit a website, do you prefer to go straight to the site search to find what
you’re looking for, or do you prefer to click around and browse to find what you’re
looking for? (in brief)
Have you been to www.(site name).gov before?
What are three tasks you think you should be able to complete on a site
called XXXXX (name of site)?
Intro questions - Open up product to be tested:
OK, great. We’re done with the questions, and we can start looking at things.
First, I’m going to ask you to look at this page and tell me what would you click on
first? (30 seconds max.)
OK. Now let’s look a little more around the page. You can scroll if you want to, but
don’t click on anything yet. Briefly, what do you think the purpose of this site is? (30
seconds max.)
Who do you think owns this site? (30 seconds max.)
Who is the target audience? (30 seconds max.)
What do you think you can do here? (30 seconds max.)
Instructions: Thanks. Now I’m going to ask you to try doing some specific tasks. I’m
going to read each one out loud and just ask if you would like me to repeat the task
for you at any time. (and give you a printed copy.) And again, as much as possible,
it will help us if you can try to think out loud as you go along
Search Questions:
Question #1: Please use the site search to find XXXXX. (When finished) How was
that?
Question #2: Etc.
Tasks:
Question 1. You’re writing a paper about sustainability and want some information
about what government in doing this area. Please find some information on this
site.
Test Objective: Test homepage main navigation
Expected path from homepage: Homepage > Learn More > Businesses >
Sustainability
Participant #1 Succeeded: □ Succeeded w/ difficulty: □ Failed: □
Observations: Customer commented that the top menu items all seemed very
similar, and that the drop down menus were hard to use.
Participant #2 Succeeded: □ Succeeded w/ difficulty: □ Failed: □
Observations:
Participant #3 Succeeded: □ Succeeded w/ difficulty: □ Failed: □
Observations:
Participant #1: _____ Participant #2 _____ Participant #3 _____
Question 2. Etc
Test Objective: Etc
Expected path: Etc
Participant #1 Succeeded: □ Succeeded w/ difficulty: □ Failed: □
Observations:
Participant #2 Succeeded: □ Succeeded w/ difficulty: □ Failed: □
Observations:
Participant #3 Succeeded: □ Succeeded w/ difficulty: □ Failed: □
Observations:
Participant #1: _____ Participant #2 _____ Participant #3 _____
(Add more questions as needed. When all tasks are finished, continue below).
Debriefing
1. What do you think about the site? Is this something you would use?
2. What’s your favorite thing about this site?
Participant #1:
Participant #2
Participant #3
3. What’s your LEAST favorite thing about this site?
Participant #1:
Participant #2
Participant #3
4. Do you have any recommendations for changes to the way the this site
looks or works?
END TEST PORTION
Thanks, that was very helpful.
(If you have people in another room, continue here) If you’ll excuse me for a
minute, I’m just going to see if the people on the team have any follow-up questions
they’d like me to ask you.
[talk to observation room, let them ask any questions]
Do you have any questions for me, now that we’re done?
Thank you so much for your help today. Your comments will help us create a better
website.
