In practice, most lab- oratory and field studies blend together direct questioning and observation methods into one study.
It is interesting that they have chosen to phase out editorial and technical review. It seems they've declined to answer to expert's ethos, and instead rely statistics gathered by way of user testing and interview.
In the final analysis, the tension between explo- ration and grading has encouraged the variety of approaches to the study of usability in technical communication. They hold equally compelling beliefs that the natural experience can be a test of usability and that grading the text would offer the best (most efficient) test of usability.
Both exploration and grading seem important to the advancement of usability. Exploration is important for discovering new methods to present information that are more widely understood. Grading is important for grading these methods.
Because no one group focuses on usability exclusively, devel- oping a comprehensive approach to studying it during prod- uct development, testing, and natural use, it certainly makes a difference to a particular study which group is conducting the study. If we were to ask each of these groups to study users learning to use a word processor, the resulting studies would differ in foci, methods, goals, findings, and philoso- phy.
It doesn't seem like the study of usability has a systematic method of inquiry in the same way that other fields have the scientific method. It seems natural that different researchers would turn up vastly different results.
He finds that reminding themselves of infor- mation is as important as pointers to finding information, and that workers view classification of information as their most difficult task.
Little habits like this, though they may seem insignificant, demonstrates how people minds organize information, and what areas they need assistance. Taking things like this into account can really boost usability.
Filter 3: Research Questions That Can Be Posed in Usability Research Research questions give us another filter on the studies, partic- ularly if we see these questions as means of assessing whether a study focuses on one type of question or cuts a broader swath. By grouping the typical research questions posed about usability into questions that focus on the product, questions that focus on the user, and questions that focus on the milieu, we can quickly see whether a study goes deeply into one type of research question.
Not only can a research question be posed, but it is practically necessary. Usability is an incredibly broad term, that covers nearly every facet of nearly all publicly available content. If you are going to improve it, you will need specific goals to focus on. A research question clarifies those goals.
Surveys, interviews, and comprehension tests are not particularly helpful in finding out what moves users make while they use a product.
For this reason, I would think that observation is probably the most effective way of judging usability. Second hand accounts could never bee as helpful ass actually seeing how people interact with your content first hand.
Sociology- Another group, though peripheral to the day-to- day study of usability, is made up of sociologists and an- thropologists. These researchers have contributed studies of people working with computers that point out dimensions of usability that are not seen in a laboratory study
Sociology can be very helpful when trying to aid in the improvement of usability. The discipline includes the study of commonly accepted method of communication within a society, which is vital information when you are trying to modify specialized information for wider consumption.
When we are working inside a discipline, everyone shares values and goals, a com- mon educational platform, and a common world view. We cannot assume that commonality in multidisciplinary work. Thus, the step of articulating the context of a study helps us to better understand why a study is as it is
By explaining specialist subjects with a more broadly used vernacular, utilizing more universally understood modes, and sharing the context that certain information was researched, specialized information within a single discipline can be shared with a much larger audience. This is very important, as what might seem like an insignificant study could potentially have far reaching application if shared properly.
Consider some of the decisions faced by a particular study- how to measure using, what to consider successful, or where in the development cycle to conduct the test.
There are some methods you can use. The rate of returns for first time visitors and the number of complaints received are both excellent statistics that point to how user friendly your medium is, albeit indirectly.
Ed- itorial experts can find style problems more efficiently, and more reliably, than users can. Technical experts can locate problems with the technical content of a manual more effi- ciently, and more reliably, than users can. Although traditional evaluation handles many problems well, it does not necessar- ily expose usability problems
Editorial and and technical experts are likely to have encountered many examples of technical writing with varying levels of usability. When critiquing, they have plenty of examples compare to, and so I imagine they are the most prepared to offer criticism.