Hi, [participant name]. My name is [your name], and I'm going to be walking you through the usability session today.
Before we get started, I just want to go over a little bit of information with you.
Let me explain why we've asked you to participate today. We're testing [a product type (eg a website)] to see what it’s like for [user type (eg gerbil owners)] to use it.
I want to start by saying that we're testing [the product], not you. You can't do or say anything wrong, and nothing is going to hurt our feelings.
We want to hear exactly what you think so that we can improve the [product].
As you use the [product], I'm going to ask you to think out loud: to say what you’re looking at, what you’re trying to do, and what you’re thinking. This will really help us.
If you have questions, just ask. I may not be able to answer them right away, since we're interested in how people do when they don't have someone sitting next to them, but I will try to answer any questions you still have when we're done.
If you need to take a break at any point or you’d like to quit, just let me know. That’s perfectly OK.
Also, with your permission, I’d like to record this session. The video will only be used by us internally, and it will really help me with note-taking.
Is it all right if I turn on the conference recording?
(Get permission from participant. If they decline, continue the session without the recording on.)
TURN ON RECORDING
Ok, before we get started do you have any questions for me?
(Answer any questions.)
Okay. Now I’m going to read you the instructions for today’s session.
During the session today, I'm going to read you some tasks. Approach these tasks as if you were sitting alone at work or home.
As you work, please do the following:
- Remember to think out loud. Talk about what you are thinking, doing, experiencing, and expecting.
- Whenever you have a question or comment, please state it! You can say anything you want - positive or negative.
Ok. We're almost ready to go. Before we begin, we have a few more questions to start things off.
A handful of questions that set the context for the user: how they'd describe their role, which products they currently use, and so on.
A series of atomic tasks that encourage the user to perform a single action with your product.
For example: sign up for a new account; complete a purchase; write a new post; share a particular object; find the library in the app.
For each task, you may choose to include some follow-up questions: "where would you look if you wanted to find X?" "How would you describe what this product / feature does?"
(Once the participant has tackled each of the tasks, finish up the session with a few final questions.)
A handful of questions that summarize the user's experience. For example, what did they like most? What did they like least? How likely are they to recommend the product to friends or colleagues? If they could change one thing about the product, what would it be?
We're all done. Thank you so much for your time!