Rocket surgery made easy : the do-it-yourself guide to finding and fixing usability problems

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Where to find it

Law Library — 1st Floor Collection (1st floor)

Call Number
TK5105.888 .K785 2010
Status
Available

Park Library (School of Media & Journalism)

Call Number
TK5105.888 .K78 2010
Status
Available

Authors, etc.

Names:

Summary

It's been known for years that usability testing can dramatically improve products. But with a typical price tag of $5,000 to $10,000 for a usability consultant to conduct each round of tests, it rarely happens.

In this how-to companion to Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability , Steve Krug spells out a streamlined approach to usability testing that anyone can easily apply to their own Web site, application, or other product. (As he said in Don't Make Me Think , "It's not rocket surgery".)

Using practical advice, plenty of illustrations, and his trademark humor, Steve explains how to:
Test any design, from a sketch on a napkin to a fully-functioning Web site or application Keep your focus on finding the most important problems (because no one has the time or resources to fix them all) Fix the problems that you find, using his "The least you can do" approach By paring the process of testing and fixing products down to its essentials ("A morning a month, that's all we ask"), Rocket Surgery makes it realistic for teams to test early and often, catching problems while it's still easy to fix them. Rocket Surgery Made Easy adds demonstration videos to the proven mix of clear writing, before-and-after examples, witty illustrations, and practical advice that made Don't Make Me Think so popular.

Contents

  • Opening Remarks Call me Ishmael p. 2
  • How this book came to be, some disclaimers, and a bit of housekeeping
  • Finding Usability Problems
  • Chapter 1 You don't see any elephants around here, do you? p. 12
  • What do-it-yourself usability testing is, why it always works, and why so little of it gets done
  • Chapter 2 I will now saw my [lovely] assistant in half p. 20
  • What a do-it-yourself test looks like
  • Chapter 3 A morning a month, that's all we ask p. 22
  • A plan you can actually follow
  • Chapter 4 What do you test, and when do you test it? p. 30
  • Why the hardest part is starting early enough
  • Chapter 5 Recruit loosely and grade on a curve p. 38
  • Who to test with and how to find them
  • Chapter 6 Find some things for them to do p. 50
  • Picking tasks to test and writing scenarios for them
  • Chapter 7 Some boring checklists p. 56
  • And why you should use them even if, like me, you don't really like checklists
  • Chapter 8 Mind reading made easy p. 62
  • Conducting the test session
  • Chapter 9 Make it a spectator sport p. 90
  • Getting everyone to watch and telling them what to look for
  • Fixing Usability Problems
  • Chapter 10 Debriefing p. 101
  • Comparing notes and deciding what to fix
  • Chapter 11 The least you can doÖ p. 110
  • Why doing less is often the best way to fix things
  • Chapter 12 The usual suspects p. 120
  • Some problems you're likely to find and how to think about fixing them
  • Chapter 13 Making sure life actually improves p. 128
  • The art of playing nicely with others
  • The Road Ahead
  • Chapter 14 Teleportation made easy p. 134
  • Remote testing: Fast, cheap, and slightly out of control
  • Chapter 15 Overachievers only p. 134
  • Recommended reading
  • Chapter 16 Happy trails / to you p. 144
  • A few final words of encouragement
  • Sample test script and consent form p. 146
  • Acknowledgments p. 154
  • Index p. 158

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