Agenda

The Usability 1-2-3™ training course runs from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. each class day, with two 30-minute breaks and a one-hour catered lunch. The instructors will facilitate hands-on exercises and conduct exclusive Tec-Chec™ reviews of designated products and websites each day.

Note that lunch is included in the course fee, and the instructors will be available for continuing discussion during lunch. Please specify on the registration form any dietary preferences or restrictions you may have.

Day 1: Usability Overview and ROI

• Usability—what it is and why it’s important
• Participatory exercise—expert usability review of an attendee’s or a commercial product or website
• Usability ROI—how usability improves the development process, the customer experience, and your bottom line
• User-centered design (UCD)—what it is and how UCD methods fit into website and software development cycles
• Usability politics—how to make them work for you, not against you
• Participatory exercise—convincing your organization to conduct or commission a usability study
• User and stakeholder requirements—an overview of methods for collecting, analyzing, and prioritizing requirements
• Usability and UCD group infrastructure—tools, processes, and templates for making usability work and increasing the efficiency of your team

Tec-Chec™—TecEd experts will conduct high-level complimentary usability reviews of attendees’ websites or products. To receive a Tec-Chec™, you must be one of the first 10 people to register.

Day 2: UCD Overview & Conducting Usability Evaluations

• User-centered design (UCD)—an overview of how UCD methods fit into website and software development cycles
• Participatory exercise—expert usability review of an attendee’s or a commercial product or website
• User and stakeholder requirements—methods for collecting, analyzing, and prioritizing requirements
• Scenarios and personas—what they are and how they can be used throughout the development cycle
• Participatory exercise—prioritizing stakeholder requirements and creating a scenario and a persona
• Prototyping methods and their role in design and development
  • Low fidelity versus high fidelity
  • Paper prototyping
  • Wizard of Oz techniques
  • Participatory design methods

• Usability testing—types of testing (think-aloud versus benchmarking), goals and rationale, and usability specifications
• Planning a usability test—problem statements, participant selection, task selection, materials design, procedure design, and ethical issues
• Conducting a usability test—test administration, procedure execution, handling difficult participants, and troubleshooting
• Data collection—observation techniques, note-taking procedures and instruments, and qualitative and quantitative data
• Participatory exercise—conducting a usability test and troubleshooting exercise

Tec-Chec™—Tec-Ed experts will conduct high-level complimentary usability reviews of attendees’ websites or products. To receive a Tec-Chec™, you must be one of the first 10 people to register.

Day 3: Analyzing, Interpreting, & Reporting Usability Data

• Usability testing—an overview of the types of testing, goals and rationale, and usability specifications
• Usability test results—analyzing, interpreting, and reporting and presenting findings; recommending improvements; and convincing product teams to take action
• Participatory exercise—working with usability test results
• Alternative usability evaluation methods—an overview of heuristic evaluation, cognitive walkthroughs, and perspective-based inspections
• Participatory exercise—expert usability review of an attendee’s or a commercial product or website
• Remote testing—an overview of methods and technologies and practical tips on how to conduct remote testing
• Field research—an overview of contextual inquiry, ethnographic interviews, and field usability testing
• Integrating field and laboratory data—how they work together to provide a complete picture of the user experience

Tec-Chec™—Tec-Ed experts will conduct high-level complimentary usability reviews of attendees’ websites or products. To receive a Tec-Chec™, you must be one of the first 10 people to register.