At 05:14 PM 3/14/2009, guang Yang wrote:
I am currently in charge of planning the set up of a new UT lab
within 2009 and run it after the set up, finally develop to a whole
Ixd center...Anyone have any ideas about arranging and run a Ixd center?
Are you sure you need a lab? For usability tests of web sites and
computer-based products, you can use Morae
http://www.techsmith.com/morae.asp
to record tests, log events, let observers view from other rooms, and
compile video highlights for presentations, all for a little more
than $1000 and the cost of a couple of computers.
Jared Spool has long argued for even simpler testing:
http://www.uie.com/articles/streamlining_usability/
If you do decide to build a lab, much of what you need to consider -
apart from recording and editing technologies, which continue to
change rapidly - has stayed the same over the years. An older source
of information about usability labs that is still quite valuable is a
special issue of the journal _Behaviour & Information Technology_
(ISSN 0144-929X, Volume 13, Numbers 1 and 2) edited by Jakob Nielsen.
Large academic libraries are likely to have a copy, and it may still
be possible to purchase it from
Dawson (UK) Ltd, Back Issues Division
Cannon House
Folkestone, Kent CT19 5EE
UK
Tel: +44 (0) 1303 850101
Fax: +44 (0) 1303 850440
There's a summary of the issue at
http://www.useit.com/papers/uselabs.html
For designing a multipurpose lab for both design and evaluation, the
paper in the issue by Dayton, Tudor, and Root, "Bellcore's
User-Centred-Design Support Centre," is especially thought-provoking.
Mitchell Gass
uLab | PDA: Learning from Users | Designing with Users
Berkeley, CA 94707 USA
+1 510 525-6864 office
+1 415 637-6552 mobile
+1 510 525-4246 fax
http://www.participatorydesign.com/
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