DIY Mobile Usability Testing
Usability testing is an interaction designer’s bread and butter, but applying it to the study of mobile applications and websites brings considerable challenges. Which device should we use for testing? Can we use an emulator? How do we prototype for mobile? Can we just recycle the tasks we use for desktop software tests? Do we test in the lab or in the wild? How do we record screen, fingers and facial expressions?
We don’t intend to answer all those questions in just one session: that would be madness! We’ll focus instead on the last one.
Follow us in our quest to set up a mobile usability testing environment on a tight budget. We’ll show you how others do it. We’ll roam around electronics and professional video stores searching for brackets and webcams. We’ll put our DIY skills to the test and waste a lot of silicon trying to build our mobile recording device. We’ll scour the Internet for free software, and we’ll finish off building the lab and running a usability test in front of your eyes.
If we can do it, so can you! You’ll come out of this session knowing exactly what you need to do to run and record usability tests with mobile devices.
Presenters
Just another interaction designer at the Open Source Technology Center in London, untangling the wondrous world of mobile phones and other portable gimmicks.
During the day (and sometimes night) I work as a mobile telecoms engineer - I make sure the packets from the Googles to arrive to your phone's browser.
I have spent a lot of time working with the equipment that transport your 1s and 0s.
I want to move up the stack and start thinking about the humans who make and use those 1s and 0s.
I am currently studying for a MSc in Human Centered Systems in London City University.
I blog here