Assignment 4: Paid Website Usability Testers

The
design, development, and deployment of a product are the first steps
toward a finished product ready for distribution in the marketplace. The
next step is the evaluation of the user experience in order to gather
data on the usability of the product. Testing centers (also called
living labs) have been provided with built-in cameras and sensors to
record user experiences of the invited volunteer and paid testers.

A
newer evaluation method or data-gathering method uses the Internet.
There are Websites that will pay testers or give testers free products
to test a Website in order to discover design flaws and assess usability
of a Website. The following Website pays Internet users to become
testers: UserTesting.com  (http://www.usertesting.com/be-a-user-tester/).

Write a four to five (4-5) page paper in which you:

1. Assess the reliability of data gathered via paid Internet users.
2. Describe
   and assess the evaluation method being used by the testing company,
   i.e., nonvisual and verbal recording of browser activities and tester’s
   vocal comments.
3. Evaluate the natural settings of the test
   environment for Web users. Note: Test environments are usually labs
   designed to conduct testing. Natural settings refer to the user’s normal
   operating environment.
4. Speculate about the validity of the data gathered from various users, each with their specific demographics.
5. Imagine you want to evaluate the Strayer University’s Website (www.strayer.edu)
   using a usability test like UserTesting.com. Include a usability
   evaluation that you would apply to the Strayer University’s Website.
6. Use at least three (3) quality resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and similar Websites do not qualify as quality resources.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

• Be
  typed, double-spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with
  one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA
  or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional
  instructions.
• Include a cover page containing the title of the
  assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title,
  and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in
  the required assignment page length.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

• Create a simple usability evaluation for an existing software application or product.
• Describe common usability guidelines and standards.
• Define the different types of interaction styles.
• Use technology and information resources to research issues in human-computer interaction.
• Write
  clearly and concisely about human-computer interaction topics using
  proper writing mechanics and technical style conventions.