The Analysis Toolbox: Making Sense of Usability Test and Field Study Data

Are you overwhelmed by the incredible amounts of data you're left with after performing a field study or usability test? Can you effectively analyze the data you've collected, and use your findings to successfully guide your product development process?

Field studies and usability tests produce a vast amount of quality data. However, these techniques produce a vast, often overwhelming, amount of quality data. Interacting with users provides great insights, but making sense of what you've learned is often a huge challenge that many teams find difficult to overcome.

Part of the secret to good data analysis is preparing properly *before* the study begins. Preparing a good set of focus questions, putting together data collection worksheets, and carefully studying participant recruitment will simplify the post-observation analysis. This in turn will help you understand how to spend your observation time more productively. In the first part of this presentation, Jared will walk through these techniques, providing examples as we prepare for a real study.

Once you've collected your observational data, the next challenge is to turn it into information the team can act on. In the second part of our seminar, Jared will explain some classic techniques for turning qualitative observations into quantitative analysis. He'll demonstrate participant pairing to extract attributes, attribute ratings, Pugh diagrams, and the K-J Analysis technique. All of these are essential tools for any team's analysis toolbox.