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June 24 Think Aloud Event – Recap

Posted: June 29th, 2010 | Author: | Filed under: Events | Tags: , , | No Comments »

Last Thursday, June 24th, the UX Group met to learn more about the Think Aloud method from Guelph Master’s student, Amy Gill. Amy graciously gave us a presentation on her Master’s work, which has been focussing on learning about the psychology roots of the Think Aloud method, and how it can and should be used by UX practitioners today. We had almost 30 attendees this month, which made the discussions lively and insightful.

The session taught us a lot of about how Think Aloud was created, and some very interesting guidelines for how to use the method to gather the best results. The presentation was a great lead-in to an exciting discussion. Amy brought to light a number of interesting points, including:
  • Think Aloud was originally created in the psychology tradition to learn about the thought processes inside of subjects’ heads
  • We can gather great quotes to convince others of changes that need to be made
  • It can provide us with insight into the mental models and the assumptions of the user
  • The method doesn’t alter though patterns if we stick to level 1 and level 2 statements that do not require extra thinking or meta thinking.
  • When we ask “Why?” the user has to start thinking about what they should say – altering their thoughts
  • Asking “Why?” can also produce inaccurate reports as users tell us what they think we want to hear
After Amy’s presentation, the discussion broadened to include topics such as:
  • When we ask “Why?”
  • How we know when usability testing is being done “correctly” or is having a positive impact
  • How people in the community incorporate usability testing, and when
If you missed Amy’s presentation, she has graciously provided us with a number of resources which were used or mentioned throughout her talk:
Thanks to Amy and everyone who showed up to see her present and participate in the insightful discussions. See you in July!

June 24 Think Aloud Event…Be there!

Posted: June 23rd, 2010 | Author: | Filed under: Events | Tags: , , | No Comments »

Hi everyone!

The User Experience Group planning committee has a great night scheduled!   We have some video examples of think aloud studies that we will be showing and we’ll discuss best practices that we’ve used when asking participants to think aloud in usability tests.   Amy Gill, who is pursuing a Masters degree in Applied Computer Science at the University of Guelph, will also be sharing more information about her research about think aloud practices in usability testing. Some of us from our UX group volunteered as participants in Amy’s studies, so we know we’re in for a treat!

Please click here to register for this event and hope to see you there!

Thursday, June 24, 2010

5:30 to 7:00 pm

Accelerator Centre

Meeting Room #2

295 Hagey Blvd., Waterloo

[Map]

(June 2010) Current Think Aloud Practices

Posted: May 26th, 2010 | Author: | Filed under: Events | Tags: , , | No Comments »

Thursday, June 24, 2010
5:30 to 7:00 pm
Accelerator Centre
Meeting Room #2
295 Hagey Blvd., Waterloo
[Map]

Many of us have used think aloud sessions as a way of understanding how users interact with a software product. In tonight’s meeting, we’ll run some actual sessions to see how a think aloud session works in practice.

We’ll also hear from Amy Gill, who is a pursuing a Masters degree in Applied Computer Science at the University of Guelph under the guidance of Dr. Blair Nonnecke (no stranger to the UX Group). The focus of Amy’s research is the think aloud method which is often used during usability testing. Her research aims to explore current think aloud practices to compare the use of think aloud in the usability field with the original use of think aloud in psychology. For this research, practitioners in the usability field were interviewed to gain an understanding of current think aloud practices.

RSVP

Please click here to register for this UX Group event. Thanks! Hope to see you there.