Usability testing at the University of Baltimore

Abstract:

A report back from the third round of formal usability testing of Drupal core - held at the University of Baltimore, a week before Drupalcon DC.

We'll give an overview of the state of usability in Drupal core, see where improvements have been made, where there's still work to be done. Building on the lessons learned from previous testing at UB and the University of Minnesota.

Presenters:

Addison Berry
Becca Scollen
Brad Bowman
Bojhan Somers
Matt Tucker
Nathaniel Catchpole

Agenda

The session will include background on how the tests were conducted for those unfamiliar with formal usability testing. We'll also be showing footage and screen captures from the usability testing itself. Expect raw (and possibly harrowing! although hopefully we won't have driven anyone to drink this time) footage from the usability tests themselves, along with a summary of where we are and where we'd like to get. Watching people tackle particular areas for the first time is one of few ways to re-live those first few hours learning Drupal. At the end there'll be a summary of some of the critical remaining issues with core usability, and ways to get involved helping to fix them whether as a tester, a developer or a designer.

Goals

Our plan for usability testing also includes working the issues found during testing into actionable items for user experience specialists and core developers to tackle, - so expect to go away with plenty to work on, either directly in core, or transferring these findings to contributed modules - the 'usability sprint' held during the Drupalcon unconference will provide an opportunity to get stuck in.

Resources

http://groups.drupal.org/usability

Speakers

Addison Berry
Becca Scollen
Brad Bowman (beeradb)
Bojhan Somers (Bojhan)
Matt Tucker (ultimateboy)
Nathaniel Catchpole (catch)

(and possibly other usability testing attendees to be confirmed)