Well the title says it really. I have published some examples of the user test documents and templates we used to test a massive project a few years ago.
Being a fan of the Steve Krug school of testing, often and quick and dirty, as opposed to never getting around to user testing at all because it’s too expensive. The examples are for the development of Signs of Life a gorgeous monster of an interactive drama that I Exec produced a few years ago.
“Strange to think…most games were played without more apparatus than a ball or two and a few sticks and perhaps a piece of netting. Imagine the folly of allowing people to play elaborate games which do nothing whatever to increase consumption” Aldous Huxley, Brave New World.
‘O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!’ No need to buy/install Microsoft Office to export specification docs – from Axure. Just generate them, then upload them to Google Docs and you have them ready to share. This works fine with version 5.6 of Axure on a Macintosh, so please let me know if this is the same for PC.
Come with me, into the garden, I’ll open the shed door. Now take a seat. I just need to tuck you in with this crocheted rug. There’s cushions behind your head and the screen is above you. When you’ve finished just push the shed door open.
[slideshow]
You are sitting in the dark inside a garden shed looking up as some titles slide across the screen. The video begins, what’s going on, why are you sitting is a shed at the Southern edges of Tooting? You came to the Wandsworth Artists Open House (London, UK) and have seen some great paintings, jewelery, pictures, sculpture and crafts.
When invited to see a video in my shed “be gentle with me I’m quite old”, “There’s witnesses incase I don’t come back”, “This is a bit scary”.
After being seated in an old Loyd Loom chair in a darkened shed. I lean in and cover them with a crocheted blanket and say “Here’s something to keep you comfy – there’s a cushion behind your head so just lean back”. People said “Are you going to lock me in?”, You’re not going to take a picture of me and make me look stupid?”.
The video lasted 10 minutes. I stopped telling people this as they kept thinking it was to long. So I said it took roughly 5 minutes and I got a lot more takers. I had three people waiting their turn last Sunday and today. Only one person left the shed before the video was finished. I was usually in the kitchen when they came through the back door. Most people said they thought it was good, interesting, a very clever ideas, a genius idea. “I’ve seen a totally new perspective on walking down the street”, “I couldn’t stand the lack of control”, “don’t lamp posts look amazing”, “I wanted to know where I was”. “it took me a while, but a finally worked out what I was looking at”. One women suggested I post in on YouTube, I said it’d be hard to get people to look at it from below, she said she was a health visitor and thought it would be useful to show parents a babies perspective so they didn’t leave them for hours under a plain ceiling. I had a few good conversations with people who seemed quite inspired by the experience. A toddlers perspective of a dog was suggested as another project…
With a a couple of exceptions if someone saw the video they encouraged their friends to take a look too. Successsss 🙂 The video of the shed experience is now ready to see on Vimeo.