Usability Lab Layout - Brainstorming


We’re hoping to have an opportunity to establish a usability lab here at Cal Poly. Since we may not be able to afford a room exclusively for this purpose, in this activity I’d like to explore various design options that may allow us to use a room both as usability lab and for teaching purposes.

Requirements


  • Usability Experiments: The room must have facilities to conduct usability experiments on a variety of systems and products. While desktop and laptop computers may be used in the majority of the experiments, the facilities should be able to accommodate other devices (e.g. mobile computers, smart phones, devices incorporating computers, unusual input/output devices) and interaction methods (e.g. voice-based, gesture-based) as well.
  • Participant Observation: The room should offer the opportunity to observe participants in usability experiments in such a way that they are not distracted from the task they are working on. It should be able to accommodate one to three persons in the participants section (possibly including a facilitator). There should also be an observer section (which may be in a separate room) capable of holding at least five people.
  • Communication between Participant and Observer Sections: Facilities should be included that allow observers to communicate with the facilitators and the participants.
  • Recording of Usability Experiments: Essential activities during the experiments should be recorded. This involves primarily images and sound (e.g. through video cameras), but may also require the capture of key strokes, pointing device movements, or eye movements of the participants.
  • Evaluation: Facilities to evaluate usability sessions must be available. They do not necessarily have to be in the usability lab.
  • Remote Participation and Observation: If possible, facilities to include participants and observers from remote locations should be incorporated.

Tasks


  • identify the main stakeholders in a usability lab at Cal Poly
  • identify a set of criteria for the comparison of different usability lab proposals
  • sketch a core set of scenarios for usability activities performed in the lab
  • sketch two possible configurations for a usability lab: one involving a single room (something like 14-255 or 14-256), and one involving a combination of multiple rooms (e.g. one for participants, one for observers)
  • evaluate the two configurations based on the previously identified criteria.