Project Emerson

Primary Goal

Conducting a usability testing on Integrated Patch Management which is to determine whether participants able to run the patch successfully and independently.
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Identifying usability problems, in order to improve the overall quality of an IPM (Integrated Patch Management).

"How did the usability testing reveal the most significant challenges users faced when running patches independently?"

"What specific design changes or improvements did I implement to address these issues and enhance the overall user experience?"

ROLE                                                      UX Designer, Facilitator

TIMELINE                                              June 2022 - January 2023

TEAM                                                     1 (UX Manager)
                                                                     1 (Product Marketing Manager)


ACTIVITIES PERFORMED                   Moderated Remote Usability Testing, Data analysis,                                                                       Prototype Mocks

Impact

The Process

Preparation is the key for usability testing. My role was to conduct the usability sessions and also observe participants.

Pre Preparation

Before visiting the target users, it was very important to decide what is it exactly that we wanted to test. Hence, to stay in focus and to keep the testing streamlined, I created a plan which had the following steps for the Usability testing process.

Breaking the process

Once the scope of work was defined for the Usability test, I created the testing script template.

Creating a test plan

After understanding scope of the work, we decided to recruit participants. Recruited 5 participants from our organization with varying roles across the globe. And conducted remote usability test in the span of one week.

Facilitating Test

The Usability testing conducted in the span of 5 days. Team consists of 4 people, I was the facilitator, a PMM and two UX designers all were acting as an observer and notetaker in the session.
Below is the screenshot from the remote usability testing.

Analyzing Case Data

After all our testing sessions, I went through my notes and the videos captured to analyze the information and derive conclusions.

Collecting participants feedback

These are the few quotes said by participants while performing the task in the session.

Design Recommendations

Takeaways

UX is a Team Sport
Inviting teammates and stakeholders to attend usability testing session builds organizational support for UX activities and it also helps to develop empathy for the users.

Conduct a Pilot Test
Running a dry run allowed me to test the logistics, to validate that all the tasks can be performed and to run out any possible issues. The pilot test also allowed me to get some practice and be more comfortable with moderating a session.

Moderating a usability session is an art
Always reminding the participants as they accomplish the tasks to think aloud and to externalize their thoughts and feelings. Avoid influencing participants and introducing bias.

Define Metrics Prior to Data Collection
Usability testing is a qualitative method, I supplemented observational and self-reported data with some basic quantitative metrics (sometimes called performance metrics) based on user behaviors.

Summative Usability Testing for an Integrated Patch Management