I for one have never said we shouldn't do user research, in fact I think that is one of the most important areas.
My problem with the current state of usability testing is that it most often test in pseudo environments that tell you more about the quality of your mock-up than of any finished product/service. What happens often is that those responsible for the usability tests provides their findings to the designers but that there is no actual transcendence from the usability testing phase into the actual design and development phase. Figuring out where most users think a button should be have very little if any bearing on the quality of the finished product. It might sit exactly where the users wanted it yet there is still no conversion. Through the years I have seen this again and again which have made me suggest to my client's only to do usability tests if they are trying to test something completely new and even there I would be hesitant in some cases. I have no problem doing usability tests if they make sense, but it's at least my experience that they don't make sense in any close proximity to the amount of cases they are conducted and I find it rather troubling for the state of products and services that so many UX shops are popping up that only do the first part. A much better approach IMHO is do you research, design the monkey and let it loose in the jungle. THEN look at how users behave. In most cases that gives you plenty of information about what to do or not to do and whether to invite users of your product or not for qualitative studies. But the current UCD mania is simply on the wrong track and will hopefully fade with time as companies realize, there is no safe way to good products and succsess. IMHO You have to care about your users and you product and realize that the real test is the finished product, not a pseudo environment. It's not fair either to our clients or the users. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=46278 ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
