Kevin O'Connor on testing content #stc10

Whitney Hess @whitneyhess

With @willsansbury @rachelhpeters and @yina_li in @leenjones & @userinsight's Kevin O'Connor talk about testing content. #stc10

Whitney Hess @whitneyhess

Their assertion is that usability testing focuses too narrowly on *finding* content & not enough on using the content once it's found #stc10

Whitney Hess @whitneyhess

Protocol for content testing: Can users find and read the content they need, understand the content, act on the content -- @leenjones #stc10

Whitney Hess @whitneyhess

"Can you use this?" should be accompanied by "Would you use this?" That often has much to do w/ the relevance & usefulness of content #stc10

Whitney Hess @whitneyhess

"I'm a big fan of words, but sometimes less is more." -- @leenjones Too much content can detract from its value, leave ppl confused #stc10

Whitney Hess @whitneyhess

- @zeldman just got a shoutout! Cited as saying, "Design from the content out." Too few designers work this way #stc10

Whitney Hess @whitneyhess

When testing two concepts, don't promise your client/stakeholder a "winner," instead just better feedback from both to inform design #stc10

Whitney Hess @whitneyhess

"Being consistent is better than being right." -- Kevin O'Connor of @userinsight. You set expectations & must continue to meet them #stc10

Todd Zaki Warfel @zakiwarfel

@whitneyhess @userinsight being predictable is better than being consistent.

Whitney Hess @whitneyhess

@zakiwarfel I'd say be predictable first, then be consistent :)

Adrian Howard @adrianh

@whitneyhess That's odd. Pretty much all usability testing I've seen or been involved with has been much more about "do X" than "find X"

Whitney Hess @whitneyhess

@adrianh That's when you're testing something functional though, not content-based sites, right?

Adrian Howard @adrianh

@whitneyhess Content based sites too. People don't just want to find X - they want to _do_ something that makes them want to find X.

Adrian Howard @adrianh

@whitneyhess Just testing "finding" not "doing" skips the underlying task. Bad. Leads to organisational rather than task oriented content.

Whitney Hess @whitneyhess

@adrianh absolutely agree with you. The point they were making is that content is typically ignored in determining that