- Reflect on who you were able to have conduct the usability testing?
- I wanted to be sure I could complete usability testing that would help me improve my course and, ultimately, my innovation idea. As much as I would love to ask student workers to conduct usability testing, I did not have sufficient time or resources to review and approve any official research, testing, or surveys with students. I attempted to do the next best thing for this initial implementation of my innovation idea by asking advisors to assist me with the usability testing phase. I selected advisors from various backgrounds and years of advising experience. Participant A (my pilot usability test) has been advising undergraduate students for 1.5 years and has worked in K-12 Education. Participant B has been advising for four months and is a recent graduate with years of experience as a writing consultant and professor. Participant C has worked in higher ed for the last 11 years and advising for the last five years. Participant D has been an advisor for the last three years and worked in social work for 15 years before higher education.
- Were you able to get the right people? Why or why not?
- Considering the previously mentioned limitations with institutional research requirements, having advisors complete usability testing allowed me to have invested stakeholders review the course. Despite some of the usability testers being familiar with the content, most had not utilized Google Classrooms before, so I think that I was able to obtain a good sampling of various skill levels to evaluate the general organization and navigation of the course.
- What can you do to better improve this in the future?
- In the future, I would like to see a usability test performed by incoming students. I received feedback from one tester who thought the course would be helpful to incoming students’ parents. So maybe considering another course focused on parents’ questions and how they can support their students or having parents complete a usability test might also provide insight into the types of information and resources students would find helpful.
- How did your platform (LMS, Google Docs, or other digital sharing) impact the testing and results?
- In reflection, I should have included feedback questions about these documents and questions. I utilized several Google forms to collect information about my participants. Still, I am unsure if the number of forms was burdensome to my testers or if their precise organization in emails and on my ePortfolio made that process easy to follow. I think there is a slight learning curve to Google Classroom navigation with the stream and all the topics, so I might consider adding a how-to-use Google Classrooms and a Help section to support learners who might not be as familiar and comfortable as others with the LMS. One participant had technical issues, so the Google Docs allowed the tester to continue usability testing asynchronously without monitoring.
- What were the lessons you learned from the usability testing feedback?
- I learned that getting some people’s feedback on what assumptions are made based on topic headings or where a user might expect to find specific content based on the task they are presented is very helpful. I gave my testers a task found in the first section of the course, assuming the user might start at the top of the course and work their way down, but I think every tester had some difficulty locating that ice-breaking task. One participant suggested that the same learning preferences survey might be more effective with video/text content describing each learning preference so that unsure students can learn more about themselves as they begin their college experience.
- I witnessed where participants experienced frustration when the content they sought was not where they expected it to be. I am currently trying to determine if I should duplicate content in areas based on where testers thought subjects might be found or if I should add this course to how to use this course to better explain how students can progress through the content or interact with each component.
- What have you done to your design to address the usability issues revealed in the testing? What have you added or taken away?
- I have begun reorganizing some items in the course due to the usability test. After watching users interact with the course, I have become aware of categories that seemed clear to me as the designer but were not apparent to the user. I have adopted some feedback I received on where to include frequently asked questions and places where I could provide more explicit instructions and information. After users’ experience showed that including those randomly throughout the course was not as engaging as I had hoped, I also consolidated the fun facts into a topic.
- How has this process improved your course and your learner’s experience?
- Usability testing was a very enlightening experience because I could see users interfacing with the course. The experience has helped me improve the course organization and content and gave me several ideas for improving the course or future content I can add to the class.
- How has the testing impacted your alignment of outcomes activities and assessment?
- I continue refining and clarifying the assessments and activities to ensure that each course section and requirement helps fulfill the learning outcome. Watching users interact with the course reveals the actual user experience in an asynchronous environment, so the testing really helps me tighten up some of the section areas and gives a clear structure to the organization and expectations for the course.
- How will you address the infrastructure, system, and support needs and issues the learner may face?
- Continually utilizing the university connectivity, help desk, and support services allows the Advising 101 course to support the needs of learners. Continuing to use the feedback received and evaluating learners’ experiences will let me address any issues learners may face while working in the course.
The Advisor That Cares 