Webstock presents: Guerilla Usability Techniques workshop with Andy Budd, User Experience Lead at Clearleft

Andy’s workshop will be on guerilla usability testing. Usability tests are an excellent way of discovering problems with a product or service. Commissioning a dedicated usability lab will provide a high degree of scientific rigour but obviously comes at significant cost.

Instead of a single academic evaluation, why not bring your usability testing in-house and run it alongside your design and development process? Two or three quick-and-dirty usability tests will not only provide better results but will also allow you to iterate your product between tests, ultimately leading to a more refined product.

Usability testing needn’t cost the Earth. In fact, there’s no need for all that expensive equipment, a dedicated lab and or even expert evaluators. It’s entirely possible to run a test at your own office, a cafe or even your subject’s home.
Who is this Workshop For?

This workshop is designed for anybody building modern websites or web applications, whether you’re an Information Architect, Interface Designer or Usability professional. As long as you have an interest in your users and want to build better experiences, this workshop is for you.
What are the learning outcomes?

At the end of this sessions you will be able to:

* Plan your own guerrilla usability test
* Screen and recruit test subjects
* Moderate a usability test
* Review the results and provide recommendations
* Write usability reports and give presentations on your findings

The Auckland cluster of the NZ UPA chapter meets every last Tuesday of the month; the Technical Communicators’ Association also organise regular events and there is an active Web Standards group.

Justine Sanderson, Local ambassador, Auckland