[Sigia-l] Questioning common test scripting

[Mitchell Gass]

At 11:29 AM 6/10/2003 -0400, Listera wrote:
>"Mitchell Gass" wrote:
> > As part of making participants feel comfortable, I encourage them to be
> > comfortable being critical.
>
>That's a lot of coaching. You have actually invited them to be critical,
>thereby, perhaps artificially, increasing the rate of "problem" detection.

Or perhaps I'm compensating for a cultural tendency toward politeness that 
prevents many people from saying things they feel are negative, 
particularly in front of strangers, and the results are more accurate for it.

When moderating, I don't use a one-size-fits-all approach, but instead 
tailor the approach to each participant. If a person is naturally 
outspoken, I might not have to do anything extra to learn what they're 
thinking. If someone is exceptionally polite or shy, I might have to do a 
good deal to draw them out.

In general, I don't need help from participants to see problems, and 
encouraging test participants to be critical when it's warranted doesn't 
cause them to have more problems. What I sometimes need help with is 
understanding the reasons for the problems, and this is when think-aloud 
testing, with judicious follow-up questions, can be valuable.

Mitchell Gass
uLab | PDA: Learning from Users | Designing with Users
Berkeley, CA 94707 USA
+1 510 525-6864 voice
+1 510 525-4246 fax
http://www.participatorydesign.com/