Adaptation of traditional usability testing methods for remote testing

Abstract

Traditional usability testing methods are difficult to use in producing Web sites and Web applications, mainly because of the decreased development times that companies demand for this type of software. Users of Web sites have diverse platforms, computer expertise and expectations. Companies want to use Web sites to sell merchandise and provide services to customers. Therefore, it is essential to make usability a high priority in the development of Web-based software. How can we resolve this seemingly contradictory situation? We believe that usability testing tools that are remote, rapid and automated would be helpful in providing more usability information in a shorter time and in a form that can be immediately useful to usability professionals. In this paper, we discuss the approach we have taken to designing such tools. We currently have several tools available for public use that are also discussed in this paper. Our next steps will be to conduct methodological studies to validate the use of these tools.