Essentially, learnability can be seen with two aspects: 1) How well can a user recall what they did (hence the teach back protocol suggested by Whitney above) 2) How well can a user recognise something (slightly but not entirely different)
Using these, memory testing is one way to test learnability. This doesn't account for when a system is so well learned that it becomes automatic (like using short-cuts for cut, copy and paste). Another problem you might face is at what level are you concerned? Do you want to look at the keystroke level (ie, very micro) or at a higher workflow level? And another is what kind of time period are you looking at? Are you interested in whether your users can remember one hour after? Or perhaps several months after? Like any research, the fundamental thing to do is to get the right questions before you do anything else. Once you know these, you can determine the research method, what data to collect, how to analyse, etc. Make the questions simple (make each one address a simple thing) and everything else becomes clear. All the best! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=42209 ________________________________________________________________ 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
