My company develops both software and hardware products. So I spent quite a chunk of my time doing usability testing on hardware designs. Alexander already gave a good list. I will just add some quick points to it.
If it is a handheld, industrial design is very important. A list of items you may want to check: - the holding grip - the reach of all the buttons - the feedback of button press - the weight - the feel of balance when holding it - the perception of labels - the perception of indicators (e.g., LED) - is it one-hand operatable? - is it sliding? - fatigue if it needs power, some additional items here: - how to change battery? / how to recharge? - help info on battery installation / charge status - power indicator, if any - low power strategy The out of box experience is critical but hard to test because (1) users will pay more attention to everything than they normally will do when on their own and (2) you may not have all the pieces (packaging, documentation, etc.) ready when you are testing it. If you have some important information that you want to tell users, carefully test the methods used to deliver it (the medium, the placement, the message, etc.). Always keep in mind that people don't read manuals and paper manuals are only useful for the first user (if he/she reads it). So depends on your device, you also may want to test it in a multiple people situation. Hope this helps. Min ________________________________________________________________ *Come to IxDA Interaction08 | Savannah* February 8-10, 2008 in Savannah, GA, USA Register today: http://interaction08.ixda.org/ ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
