Web site testing anxiety

Once you have assembled the basic Morae test configuration, you need to determine what you are going to test and how you are going to test it.

While TechSmith's Morea makes running a usability test much easier from a technical standpoint, it certainly isn't going to absolutely ensure good results because of the human factor involved.

During our testing we noticed that some end user participants displayed a form of test anxiety. Some attempted to achieve a 'good score' in their mind by putting great effort into the task, others tried to work at a high rate of speed to demonstrate prowess with the application under test, while others were overly critical or tried to make comments that suggest they knew what they were doing or had uncovered something valuable.

Test participants who seek tester approval or who are fearful of looking stupid can easily skew results, but such individuals are certainly not unique to Morae. We had experienced these phenomena during previous usability tests and found that observations made in the user's natural habitat - particularly when they were unaware of being tested - were more valuable to us.

To reduce the possibility of end users inadvertently skewing your results, you can hide the Morae Recorder software from the desktop display. Further you might want to start tests without the users' knowledge, perhaps delaying the start of the data collection until the user launches a designated application, for example. Unfortunately, any attached camera will be a continual reminder of testing. We would have liked to have installed software on a user's daily use system and then start the test at our discretion using the remote viewer once the user was not focusing on the testing process.

Back to Clear Choice Test: "Morae: Usability testing for the masses"