A Comparison of What Is Part of Usability Testing in Three Countries
Abstract
The cultural diversity of users of technology
challenges our methods for usability evaluation. In this paper we report
and compare three ethnographic interview studies of what is a part of a
standard (typical) usability test in a company in Mumbai, Beijing and
Copenhagen. At each of these three locations, we use structural and
contrast questions do a taxonomic and paradigm analysis of a how a
company performs a usability test. We find similar parts across the
three locations. We also find different results for each location. In
Mumbai, most parts of the usability test are not related to the
interactive application that is tested, but to differences in user
characteristics, test preparation, method, and location. In Copenhagen,
considerations about the client's needs are part of a usability test. In
Beijing, the only varying factor is the communication pattern and
relation to the user. These results are then contrasted in a cross
cultural matrix to identify cultural themes that can help interpret
results from existing laboratory research in usability test
methods.
Origin | Files produced by the author(s) |
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