Deck 13: Reviewing, Evaluating, and Testing Documents and Web Sites

Question 1

What are the three main principles of usability testing?

A) Usability testing permeates product development.
B) Usability testing involves studying real users as they use a product.
C) Usability testing replaces quality assurance testing.
D) Usability testing involves setting measurable goals and determining whether a product meets them.
E) Usability testing is essential for every document.

Answer 1

A, B, D

Question 2

Why is it important to conduct a usability test with a team as opposed to a single usability specialist?

A) Usability testing involves a lot of work.
B) Usability testing involves watching for small details that are revealed very quickly during testing.
C) A well-rounded team can develop more effective test materials than a single person can.
D) All responses are correct.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

You work for a company that makes high-volume photocopiers for use in business settings. Your team is going to test the usability of the new repair manual for the company's Series 400 photocopier system. You are helping to write the test materials. Which of the following is an effective task to ask a user of the Series 400 repair manual to complete?

A) Find "toner replacement" in the index.
B) Find the instructions for toner replacement.
C) Follow the instructions for toner replacement to replace the toner in this Series 400 copier.
D) Find every chapter that refers to "toner replacement."

Answer 3

C

Question 4

How does money affect the decision to conduct a usability test?

A) Participants in a usability test need to be compensated for their time.
B) You must pay to file a copy of the usability report with your industry's central office.
C) Each test must be reviewed by a lawyer or board-certified specialist.
D) You must purchase special software for recording participants' comments.

Question 5

In describing usability, Jakob Nielsen refers to five factors related to a person's use of an item. Of the options below, which is NOT a factor he discusses?

A) error frequency, severity, and recovery
B) efficiency of use
C) marketability
D) subjective satisfaction

Question 6

In which one of the following pairs are the two paired techniques most similar?

A) expert evaluation and heuristic evaluation
B) focus group and review
C) focus group and heuristic evaluation
D) review and usability test

Question 7

which type of person is NOT typically involved in a usability evaluation?

A) subject-matter expert (SME)
B) user of the item being evaluated
C) informed-consent coordinator
D) usability expert

Question 8

Which of the following is the most important difference between observing users in a usability evaluation and observing them in a usability test?

A) In an evaluation, the users pick the tasks they do. In a test, users are assigned tasks to do.
B) In an evaluation, the users pick the location. In a test, users must go wherever the usability team is.
C) In an evaluation, user feedback is not very important. In a test, user feedback becomes very important.
D) There is no important difference between observing users in an evaluation and observing them in a test.

Question 9

One factor affecting the usability of a document or website is its efficiency of use. What are two other factors?

A) subjective satisfaction
B) ease of learning
C) length
D) price of the document or website
E) None of the responses are correct.

Question 10

Which of the following does NOT involve legal and ethical issues?

A) collecting informed consent from usability-test participants
B) managing data collected in a usability test
C) proofreading
D) managing data collected in focus groups

Question 11

Which of the following is NOT a technique for conducting usability evaluations?

A) surveying or interviewing users
B) conducting focus groups
C) crafting a persona of a subject-matter expert
D) using a commercial usability service

Question 12

Which of the following statements effectively summarizes a main principle of usability testing?

A) A single usability test at the end of product development is better than three tests over time.
B) It is important to let usability testing come to you in the moment; do not overplan it.
C) Test the person using the manual, not the manual.
D) Test the manual, not the person using the manual.

Question 13

Which person would make the best administrator of a usability test?

A) someone who is an extrovert
B) someone who can be neutral and help users think through the test
C) the person who knows the product best
D) None of the choices are correct.

Question 14

One factor affecting your decision about whether to review, evaluate, or test a document is that document's relative importance. What are two other factors?

A) subjective satisfaction
B) time
C) money
D) whether the document or website is written in English

Question 15

Which word best summarizes the role of a test administrator relative to a participant in a usability test?

A) teacher
B) director
C) facilitator
D) contributor

Question 16

In which stage of the reviewing process are you most likely to benefit from using your word processor's outline view?

A) revising
B) editing
C) proofreading
D) all three stages: revising, editing, and proofreading

Question 17

During which phase of usability testing is it important to tabulate the information?

A) in the first phase, preparing
B) in the last phase, interpreting and reporting
C) in the middle phase, testing
D) after the final phase

Question 18

One principle of usability testing is that it permeates product development. What does that mean?

A) Designers and managers know that if a product fails the usability test given right before product launch, they will not be paid.
B) Once a product is permanently on the market, you no longer need to test it.
C) Conduct testing on prototypes, then conduct evaluations on final drafts.
D) You conduct testing in all stages of a product's development, not only at the end.

Question 19

The first phase of usability testing is preparing for the test. What is the final phase?

A) conducting the test
B) interpreting and reporting data from the test
C) telling participants which parts of the test they got wrong
D) thanking participants for their time

Question 20

What kinds of questions should a test administrator ask of a usability test participant who is unable to complete a task?

A) closed questions
B) demographic questions
C) biased questions
D) leading questions

Question 21

Proofreading is the process of looking again at your draft to see if your initial assumptions about your audience, purpose, and subject still pertain, then making any necessary changes.

Question 22

A heuristic evaluation is usually performed by focus groups.

Question 23

what is a prototype?

Question 24

Usability refers to five aspects of a person's use of an item. What are two of these factors?

Question 25

Reviewing a document or website is the same thing as testing it.

Question 26

One factor affecting your decision about whether to review, evaluate, or test a draft of a document is the document's relative importance. What are the other two factors?

Question 27

Usability testing is the process of performing experiments to determine that a product functions at a minimally acceptable level before the manufacturer devotes time, money, and other resources to creating documentation for the product.

Question 28

One advantage of evaluating over reviewing is that you get the benefit of someone else's perspective.

Question 29

what does it mean to evaluate a draft?

Question 30

In usability testing, what is informed consent?

Question 31

What is an SME?

Question 32

In performing usability testing, why is it a bad idea to use your own company's employees as test participants?

Question 33

Evaluation refers to having other people read your document or use your website and then communicate with you about its strengths and weaknesses.

Question 34

You are a technical writer for an electrical contractor. You have finished writing a draft of the procedures to be used by your company's electricians when installing gas dryers and water heaters. You have just learned that your county has updated the code that gives the allowable length of the gas-input pipe used for dryers and water heaters. What is the name of the process you will engage in when you look at your document to determine how to change it in light of the revised code?

Question 35

You are a technical writer for a company that makes electrical control devices such as thermostats. You have just finished writing a draft of a document to be used by electricians who install your company's devices and by homeowners who purchase them. Now your supervisor has decided that the company should publish one document for electricians and a separate one for homeowners. What is the name of the process you will engage in when you look at your document to determine how to change it in light of the decision to make two separate documents?

Question 36

A printed form is the standard way to obtain informed consent from a test participant.

Question 37

Your company makes cell phones that are sold around the world. You have carried out several focus groups of users in China, with the help of an excellent interpreter. Unfortunately, although you are good at conducting focus groups, these focus groups have not yielded as much useful information as you had hoped. What might be the problem?

Question 38

The three phases of usability testing are revising, editing, and proofreading.

Question 39

The purpose of debriefing after a usability test is to thank the participant for giving you information.

Question 40

Generally, it is best not to use company employees as participants in a usability test.