I use Morae for all observation testing in a lab-like setting. It has three components - Recorder, Observer, and Manager; you can buy each individually. Recorder is installed on the participant machine and not only records screen video and any audio, it also allows you to deliver a survey automatically at the end of the tasks defined for the study and, if set up to work with observer, allows the facilitator to index events in real-time. This makes it extremely easy to get time-on-task, error, and other event data.
Observer is set up on a computer networked to the participant computer; you must have a separate Observer license for each computer running observer. I have two licenses, one for the facilitator machine and one that I typically set up in a conference room for the project team to use to observe in real time. You could also use any screen sharing application or conferencing application along with Observer, but this would not allow the observers to also tag events during a test session. Manager is the component for doing analysis. You can view and edit the video and audio, as well as get charts and graphs showing data for the markers you set during observation. Without the markers, you get virtually no analyzable data other than what you may have set to track mouse clicks, page changes, time on pages, and this sort of data. You can even create highlight videos based on specific markers you set during each session or by other filtering of markers. It is perfectly feasible to use Recorder only if the facilitator or a note taker is in the same room as the participant and you are using it in order to get a video and audio record. You still need to take notes and record event data manually and do the analysis manually. By using Recorder and Observer, the facilitator or note taker can sit in a separate room, but you if use markers and other indexing you do not have the integrated tools Manager gives you to do analysis of the markers. You need all three components to make good use of Morae. TechSmith has a remote usability product called UserVue which can be "rented" for one month at a time and collects quite a bit of data that can be processed in Morae Manager. Using these two together is a cost saving approach. I have used all of these components when doing testing in which some sessions were in a lab and some were remote. I have worked in labs that use Usability Science equipment and in Microsoft labs where most of the data collection tools are home grown and not very sophisticated in my opinion. I much prefer using Morae because it is all digital, it is portable, it is flexible, and it allows me to use one interface to collect all data except hand-written notes. Morae is pricey compared to using video cameras, note taking, and a spreadsheet, but I have found it saves me incredible amounts of time during set-up and analysis. I can get all upgrades through an annual maintenance agreement. It is much less pricey than systems that use extensive video camera inputs, sound mixing boards, and pricey consoles you cannot move out of a lab once it they are in place. Morae is cheaper than several Web-hosted system I have looked at, especially since I can use some of the Morae components when doing studies for non-computer products. As a consultant, Morae lets me supply my own tools for conducting testing, avoid high-cost lab rentals, and carry a much smaller box of tools to a client's office or a hotel conference room. -- Mary Deaton Deaton Interactive Design ________________________________________________________________ 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
