Sustainable Usability Testing on World Usability Day is Good for the Pocket and the World

WELLINGTON, New Zealand, Nov. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- The average usability testing project leaves a footprint of approximately 250 kilograms, or 0.25 a tonne of CO2. That may not seem much but that is close to amount of CO2 emission as a 3 hour flight.

Usability testing is universally seen as the best way to improve a system's ease and satisfaction of use. If one usability test itself emits the equivalent of a 3 hour flight, there clearly are considerable gains to be made!

In an ordinary usability test, someone travels from his/her location to a laboratory or office where they interact with a test facilitator. Normally this takes about an hour and the process is repeated with 7 to 10 people.

In tougher economic conditions and with more demanding project schedules, there has been a strong movement towards the use of web-based tools to conduct "remote usability tests." These tools make the most of the Internet by enabling the test participants to stay at home or in their office and complete their tests through the web browser.

Doing remote testing and research has considerable cost savings but also results in a higher participation rate and much quicker feedback.

On World Usability Day (November 12), the focus is on sustainability. One of the biggest gains for sustainability that usability professionals can make is to conduct more remote testing. While it does not completely replace in person tests, it is an excellent way to give designers rapid, cheap insights that are also good for the environment.

Optimal Workshop, a leading provider of remote testing tools, is celebrating World Usability Day by providing a bundle of tools at half the normal price. They can be found at http://www.optimalworkshop.com/wud2009. Other popular providers include Ethnio, 5 Second Test and Usertesting.com

Footnotes:
The carbon emission for a usability testing project is based on an average of 10 participants, with each participant traveling 20 kilometers return to get to the test and spending 1 hour with the test facilitator.

Optimal Workshop was founded to provide specialist testing and research tools for usability professionals and web designers. For more details, go to http://www.optimalworkshop.com.

For World Usability Day details, go to: www.worldusabilityday.org

    Contact:
    Sam Ng
    Optimal Workshop
    +64 4 498 4450
    sam@optimalworkshop.com