Practical models for technical communication - Shannon Kelley 2021
Usability testing
Instructions and procedures
Usability testing allows the technical communicator to test a document to determine its effectiveness. Any technical document can benefit from usability testing, but it’s especially important in the case of instructions and procedures. If a technical document does not meet the needs of its user, or only half meets those needs, there can be serious consequences.
Figure 9.13. Instructions with a Warning. This assembly manual places warnings and important information prominently on the front cover. Courtesy of Sauder.
During the usability testing stage, technical communicators try out their document in a low-risk environment to catch errors. Don’t assume that just because something makes sense to you, it will make sense to everyone. Even highly experienced technical communicators need to test their instructions and procedures with potential users.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services offers suggestions for usability testing on its website, www.usability.gov, a site designed to help students and practitioners focus on the user experience in government and the private sector. Their site sorts testing into four categories: concurrent think aloud, retrospective think aloud, concurrent probing, or retrospective probing. Each method obtains feedback through a slightly different means, and each has positives and drawbacks to consider before you decide which one to use (figure 9.14).
Best Practices for Usability Testing
The following best practices can help make your usability test more successful. These guidelines will help your test maintain objectivity, accessibility, flexibility, and repeatability.
Avoid Anchoring
Beware of influencing your test-takers. The psychological term anchoring refers to the way outside questions and comments can influence the thinking and responses of study participants. This is a common pitfall in usability testing. When handing your document to a tester for review, don’t explain: “So, what I’m trying to do here is…” or “The point of this document is to….” With just one sentence, you have biased their views, changed their understanding, and disrupted the possibility of actual feedback. Resist this temptation. You won’t be there when users are accessing your document in the future.
Figure 9.14. Usability Testing Pros and Cons. This table provides pros and cons for the four categories of usability testing. Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Design for Accessibility
Accessibility refers to the practice of creating content and experiences for a wide range of people, including individuals who may have temporary or permanent visual, motor, auditory, speech, or cognitive disabilities. Designing for accessibility also means including people who speak multiple languages or who may be from different cultures. Inclusive technical documents that reduce barriers to understanding ultimately improve the experience for all users.
If you are designing a technical document for people with disabilities, you should include people with disabilities in the testing phase. Consider testing the document with people who have limited access, such as visually impaired participants or people who do not own a computer. If you are designing a document for English language learners, then test it on users who do not speak English as their first language.
Accessible design involves being conscious of the way your text and images work together. Keep in mind that color blindness, low vision, hearing impairments, learning disabilities, and any number of temporary disabilities may impact how the user interacts with your document. Test with participants from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and experiences to ensure inclusivity. Testers are usually a small group, so make sure they are as representative as possible.
Be Flexible
Be prepared to adjust your usability test and the document itself in response to feedback from your test group. Testers will do things you don’t expect. This is because they didn’t design the document. You need this feedback to improve your document, even if it’s unexpected.
Repeat as Needed
When you set deadlines for your projects, make sure that you include time for multiple rounds of usability testing. The best development process has multiple versions of a document, as well as multiple tests.
Considerations in Usability Testing
Usability testing should examine the ease of performance, efficiency of performance, degree of error, and aesthetic quality as users interact with your document. Technical communicators need to listen and watch carefully to understand the audience’s needs and where the document may send them in the wrong direction. Before you begin, consider how you will determine these four principles:
” Ease of performance: How easily can users accomplish what is needed on their first use of your document? How intuitive is your design? How accessible is your content?
” Efficiency of performance: How quickly can users accomplish what is needed as they interact with your document?
” Degree of error: How often and how many errors do users make during the testing? How severe are the errors? What kind of recovery do they make after their errors?
” Aesthetic quality: How pleasing is the design to users? Is encountering your document a positive experience? Are there aspects that are off-putting?
Preparing a Usability Test
Usability testing requires you to keep track of many factors, so keep these questions in mind as you prepare to test your document:
Plan the Test
” Identify scope and purpose: How detailed is the test? What are you trying to determine?
” Figure out logistics: When and where will the test happen? How long will it be? What equipment (if any) is necessary?
” Plan scenarios: Do you need to design a situation in which to test the document?
” Determine metrics: How will you measure the reaction of test-takers? How will you collect feedback?
Recruit for and Give the Test
” Research: Who is your target participant?
” Recruit: How will you find willing test-takers who accurately represent your target user?
” Moderate: How will you administer the test?
Assess the Results
” Evaluate: Does anything in the document need to change based on the test results?
” Refine document: What changes in the document will produce better results?
” Repeat testing: What happens when the refined document is tested again?
Case Study
Instructions and Procedures at Work
This case study is an opportunity for you to put into practice what you’ve learned. Look at the following case study to consider how you would respond using best practices introduced in this chapter for both instructions and procedures:
Rosario is the safety manager at Wrecking Ball Demolitions. This role puts Rosario in charge of reducing the number of injuries, co-planning safe work practices with crew leaders in the field, and ensuring that the company’s safety equipment is complete and in good condition. In addition, Rosario occasionally documents how employees should complete certain tasks to ensure a safe work environment.
Recently, Rosario noted an increase in reported injuries involving reciprocating saws in the field. When she examined the incident reports, she realized that employees weren’t following basic safety procedures or reporting their injuries in a standardized fashion.
To address this problem, Rosario replaced faded safety notices and relocated them near the equipment. She also wrote a standard procedure for yearly equipment training that includes a process for reporting injuries. Her solution was successful because Rosario understood the purpose (to reduce injury and standardize reporting) and the audience (her employees) for her documents. Her understanding of the fundamentals of technical communication allowed her to create a clear message in the form of a new reporting procedure and more visible and useful safety procedures.
Discussion
” For both instructions and procedures, awareness of the audience is crucial. If you were in a situation like Rosario’s, how would you balance the technical nature of your document with what you know about your users?
” How might Rosario approach this scenario differently if she were documenting the procedures for reporting injuries for HR?
” What are some best practices that Rosario could incorporate into her response?
Checklist for Document Accessibility
Color Use
Avoid using color as the only means of representation.
Ensure sufficient contrast between the background and text.
Consider cultural connotations and common usages of colors.
Headings
Use the application’s built-in Styles tool for headings.
Follow a logical nesting order and do not exceed six heading levels.
Formatting and Layout
Avoid underlined text for emphasis as it can be mistaken for a link; use bold and italics instead.
Avoid using tables for layout.
Check document for consistency in style and navigation.
Images
Provide alternative text (alt-text) that conveys the same information as the image itself.
Ensure that images can be enlarged to 200% without pixelating.