UX Methods: Evaluating
Quick Tip!
Evaluation methods can be used at various points in a project timeline- even after a project is finished. The UX team can determine which evaluation methods are appropriate for a project.
Evaluation of products ensures they stay usable with an ever-changing technological environment. Once a product is created, it’s important to ensure that everything is and stays usable for users. Some evaluation methods are done before project delivery, while some can happen months or years down the road. At the Corps, most UX evaluation happens right before client delivery or when projects require updates. Evaluation methods can determine the usability or popularity of a project.
UX Methods for Evaluating
Cognitive Walkthroughs
Cognitive walkthroughs are a quick way to determine if the process to complete tasks on a product make sense. This involves creating tasks and evaluating each step of a task for usability. Typically, this process is done individually by the researcher who completes the task from the perspective of a user. This is helpful in projects with fast turnarounds that do not allow for full usability testing. Cognitive walkthroughs take 3-5 days to complete.
Usability Testing
Usability testing can be used at the end of the project to evaluate usability for end users. This is the most common type of UX testing conducted at the Corps. Using the complete product gives context with actual interactions and content. This type of testing provides the best results when used at multiple points of the project process, but is most commonly used at the end of product development at the Corps. Conducting usability testing throughout the project process will allow for a more usable product, as evaluation can be used at any stage of a project. Usability testing takes 1-2 weeks to complete.
Quick Tip!
Usability testing with a complete product will give users the context of interactions and content on the product. This context can help users give proper feedback as they participate in testing.
Site Audits
Site audits are a way to evaluate a website based on usability and accessibility standards. Site audits are used to ensure a site is following these standards. They may also be used to determine usability problems before these problems are found by a user.
Heuristic Evaluations
The most common way to do a site audit for UX at the Corps is through a heuristic evaluation. This involves using pre-determined usability heuristics to evaluate each aspect of the website. The UX team commonly uses Nielsen and Norman’s 10 heuristics, but other heuristics can be added or used based on the project needs. This method takes 5-10 days, depending on the size of the website.
Analytics
Analytics are a way to evaluate traffic to a system and how users navigate through. The Digital Corps uses Google Analytics on their websites. For ongoing projects, this is a helpful way to see which pages are visited and how users most commonly navigate and interact with pages. For client projects, the Corps can keep track of traffic and provide insights as needed. Analytics allow for a focus on pages that are more highly trafficked.
Timeline for UX Methods
The time needed for each method may vary drastically depending on the project. The PM team can work closely with the UX team to decide which methods would be most useful in a project and how long it will take. Some methods can happen simultaneously with other processes in a project. Not all methods should be used for each project – this depends on the user and project needs. Overall project timelines should reflect these methods so that they follow a user-centered process.
