Hello (Carly, Suzann, Ericka). My name is Scotty and I am conducting a usability test for the World Wrestling Entertainment's website for my Introduction to Human-Computer Interaction course that I am taking at Fort Hays State University. How are you doing (today, this evening)?
First of all, I would like to thank you for taking the time out of your schedule to participate in this study. I understand you may have a busy schedule, however, I hope the time out of your schedule that you are providing for this study will be found enjoyable and informational for you.
We will be conducting a usability test for the World Wrestling Entertainment's website. I may or may not refer to the World Wrestling Entertainment as the WWE throughout this study, just so you are aware. For the next 45 minutes to an hour, we are going to spend time together to get your impressions of this website. Also, please be aware that we are testing the website, not you. There won't be any right or wrong answers on how you use the site or complete the study.
I will be asking you to complete a series of tasks that match goals typical users like yourself might have when using this website. I am interested in knowing how you do things and where you'll look. Basic things like that, however, I am interested more in knowing what you're thinking and how you react to things on the website instead of what you are doing.
One important thing that I need you to keep in mind while you are testing is that I need you to "think out loud." Do you remember a time when you are using something and you get confused and frustrated, you think in your head, "Why is this so hard?," "What am I looking for?," "I think this is what I need to do." I want you to do the same thing, but instead of just thinking it, I want you to actually say it out loud.
I know that may sound a little bizarre, but you'll get used to it quickly. This really helps me understand what is going through your mind while you are using the website. If you like something, I want to know that. If you get frustrated or confused on where to find something, I want to know that too. I don't know anything you are not willing to tell me, so please speak up and say what is on your mind. I want to let you know that there are no wrong answers in this study. I am looking for your genuine impressions and thoughts.
I am going to watch you complete these tasks and take some notes so that I can report my findings on my usability testing website for the class and receive a grade from my professor. She will use my findings to assess my knowledge about conducting a usability test from the knowledge I obtained throughout the semester.
As I previously mentioned when I recruited you to complete this study, the entire usability test will be video recorded. Even though I have been recording this entire time, I'd like to verbally acknowledge that you consent to being recorded this entire time up to and including the conducting of the usability test. Do you consent of being recorded and having the video uploaded to YouTube so it can be presented on my website?
I also have a pretest questionnaire that I'll be asking you verbally to get your input, become aware of your expectations, what your previous experiences are, and so on and so forth.
I want to take a moment to describe the room to you. Obviously, we are recording this study through Zoom and I have allowed you to share your screen with me. In the recording, you'll share your screen on using the World Wrestling Entertainment's website. Their site is www.wwe.com. You can access their site and talk using your microphone. Once the recording stops, it'll save to my computer's hard drive where I'll upload it onto YouTube and embed the video onto my usability website.
I am going to give you a number of tasks to complete. Each task will have a specific goal and I want you to explore the website and complete each task. I will tell you if you need to use certain login credentials, but most of the time you'll be accomplishing each goal in the way that makes the most sense to you. While you are using the website, I will be observing you work on your screen through the use of Zoom's screen share feature. My microphone will be muted so none of my background noise seeps through into the study and distracts you.
I'll be watching specifically for different things you do nonverbally throughout the study. I'll be tracking your eye movements to see how you are looking for certain aspects of the site. I'll be watching your facial expressions to verify any type of frustration, confusion, or other emotions that indicate how you are doing during the study when navigating through their site. As mentioned previously, I'll be listening to you walk through the site and verbally indicating frustration, confusion, or something positive, like how easy a task was found. I'll read the tasks for you and will mute myself upon asking the tasks.
So, before we get started, do you have any questions or concerns regarding the study?
Okay, then we can begin. I have a list of six tasks that I'll read to you, each individually. Once you complete the first task, I'll ask the second. After you complete each task, I'll ask until we complete all six tasks. Once you are ready, I'll read each task out loud and you can let me know if you have any questions or are stuck enough that we can move on. Are you ready to begin?
Now, I'm going to read the tasks for you to complete.
Thank you (Carly, Suzann, Ericka) for taking time out of your schedule to complete this usability test. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your (day, night)!