Web Manager University - Spring 2007
Class Title: Usability Testing That Gets Results
| Instructor: | Cari Wolfson, Focus on U! | |
| Date/Time: | March 22-23, 2007 | 9 am - 4 pm (EDT) |
| Place: | Bureau of Labor Statistics |
Directions to BLS |
| Fee: | $400 (federal, state, or local gov't.) |
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Course Description:
This two-day, comprehensive course will give you the knowledge and tools necessary to independently conduct, analyze and report findings from usability tests. You'll learn the essential techniques to evaluate systems and develop research-based recommendations that are guaranteed to improve the usefulness and usability of your website.
This course is specifically targeted to be a hands-on, interactive workshop. It includes examples, exercises, and discussions of real-life usability testing. You'll receive all of the tools and templates you need to conduct effective usability tests on your own. You’ll also have a chance to design, conduct, and report the results from your own usability test.
Objectives:
- Learn how to conduct usability tests that get quantitative results
- Learn how to develop evaluations that independently test content, navigation, task flow, design and layout, and branding
- Learn how to organize your own performance testing to show measurable improvements in user performance, satisfaction, and usability
- Learn how to develop task-based scenarios, recruit test participants, facilitate tests and measure results
- Learn how to analyze usability test findings and develop research-based recommendations to improve the usability, usefulness, and user satisfaction of your website
About the Instructor
Cari Wolfson, President of Focus on U!, specializes in analyzing, designing, and iteratively testing websites to create products that are measurably easier to use, learn and understand. Focus on U! provides a comprehensive range of services to clients including user and task analysis, user research (including interviews, online surveys, and contextual inquiries), usability testing, information architecture, expert / heuristic reviews, on-site user-centered design training, and many others. Clients include Health & Human Services (HHS), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), General Services Administration (GSA), FirstGov.gov, State Farm Insurance, Small Business Administration (SBA), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), two of the President’s E-Government initiatives, among others.
Prior to founding Focus on U!, Cari was a Senior Usability Engineer with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In this role, she helped develop HHS’s Research-Based Web Design & Usability Guidelines book, www.usability.gov and the U-Group newsletter. While at NCI, Cari managed various parts of the user-centered design process for clients, including HHS, NCI, Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Federal Drug Administration (FDA), FirstGov.gov, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and many others. She has also authored various user-centered design articles, including a two-part series for IBM’s Ease of Use newsletter. Cari also served as the Lead Information Architect with a large Internet consulting firm based in Herndon, VA., where her clients included AT&T Wireless, Dr. Atkins, M&M Mars, and Human Rights Watch.
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Page Updated or Reviewed: February 19, 2007
