Sustainable Usability Testing on World Usability Day is Good for the Pocket and the World

Sustainable Usability Testing on World Usability Day is Good for the Pocket
and the World

WELLINGTON, New Zealand, Nov. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- The average usability testing
project leaves a footprint of approximately 250 kilograms, or 0.25 a tonne of
CO2. That may not seem much but that is close to amount of CO2 emission as a
3 hour flight.

Usability testing is universally seen as the best way to improve a system's
ease and satisfaction of use. If one usability test itself emits the
equivalent of a 3 hour flight, there clearly are considerable gains to be
made!

In an ordinary usability test, someone travels from his/her location to a
laboratory or office where they interact with a test facilitator. Normally
this takes about an hour and the process is repeated with 7 to 10 people.

In tougher economic conditions and with more demanding project schedules,
there has been a strong movement towards the use of web-based tools to conduct
"remote usability tests." These tools make the most of the Internet by
enabling the test participants to stay at home or in their office and complete
their tests through the web browser.

Doing remote testing and research has considerable cost savings but also
results in a higher participation rate and much quicker feedback.

On World Usability Day (November 12), the focus is on sustainability. One of
the biggest gains for sustainability that usability professionals can make is
to conduct more remote testing. While it does not completely replace in
person tests, it is an excellent way to give designers rapid, cheap insights
that are also good for the environment.

Optimal Workshop, a leading provider of remote testing tools, is celebrating
World Usability Day by providing a bundle of tools at half the normal price.
They can be found at http://www.optimalworkshop.com/wud2009. Other popular
providers include Ethnio, 5 Second Test and Usertesting.com

Footnotes:
The carbon emission for a usability testing project is based on an average of
10 participants, with each participant traveling 20 kilometers return to get
to the test and spending 1 hour with the test facilitator.

Optimal Workshop was founded to provide specialist testing and research tools
for usability professionals and web designers. For more details, go to
http://www.optimalworkshop.com.

For World Usability Day details, go to: www.worldusabilityday.org

Contact:
Sam Ng
Optimal Workshop
+64 4 498 4450
sam@optimalworkshop.com

Contact:

SOURCE Optimal Workshop

Sam Ng of Optimal Workshop, +64 4 498 4450, sam@optimalworkshop.com