Deck 13: Evaluating and Testing Technical Documents

Question 1

Usability labs are designed to limit the number of variables that users encounter during a test.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

What is the purpose of Nielsen's severity rating scale?

Answer 2

not answered

Question 3

In usability testing, what is informed consent?

Answer 3

not answered

Question 4

It is a good idea for the test administrator to have a script to follow during a usability test.

Question 5

What are some advantages and disadvantages of testing documents in real-world contexts?

Question 6

Chapter 13 discusses five usability study settings. One of these settings is focus groups. What are three more?

Question 7

One factor affecting whether you decide to review, evaluate, or test a draft of a document is the document's relative importance. What are the other two factors?

Question 8

To save money, it is a good idea to use company employees as participants in a usability test.

Question 9

What is an SME?

Question 10

To ensure that a test stays on schedule, the test administrator should set a time limit for each task.

Question 11

Testing documents in a lab provides richer feedback than can be gathered by testing them in a working context.

Question 12

Usability refers to five aspects of a person's use of an item. What are two of these aspects?

Question 13

Usability can be defined as a measure of how successfully a document achieves its purposes and meets its audience's needs.

Question 14

Test administrators must obtain informed consent from test participants in writing.

Question 15

A heuristic evaluation is usually performed by a focus group.

Question 16

The goal of remote monitoring is to make ongoing improvements based on actual usage data.

Question 17

Chapter 13 discusses eight categories of usability problems. Two of them are maintainability and support. Name three more categories.

Question 18

According to Chapter 13, what is a prototype?

Question 19

In performing usability testing, why is it a bad idea to use your own company's employees as test participants?

Question 20

Post-test interviews and questionnaires are best conducted and completed several weeks after the test, when participants have had time to think further about their experiences.

Question 21

What is another term for a guided evaluation?

A) lab evaluation
B) heuristic evaluation
C) study evaluation
D) criteria test

Question 22

In the context of usability studies, what is a prototype?

A) the best possible version of a document
B) a wireframe, mockup, draft, or other early version of a document or product
C) a usability expert
D) a set of criteria to be used for evaluating a document

Question 23

You work for a company that makes high-volume photocopiers for use in business settings. Your team is preparing to test the usability of the new repair manual for the company's Series 400 photocopier system, and you are helping to write the test materials. Which of the following is an appropriate task to ask a user of the Series 400 repair manual to complete?

A) Find "toner replacement" in the index.
B) Find the instructions for toner replacement.
C) Follow the instructions for replacing the toner in the Series 400 copier.
D) Find every chapter that refers to "toner replacement."

Question 24

Who are the participants in a contextual inquiry?

A) users in a real workplace environment
B) subject-matter experts
C) usability experts
D) people who match the profile of potential users

Question 25

Which of the following is an example of quantitative data?

A) numerical counts of errors that evaluators found on a website
B) responses to interview questions
C) discursive responses on post-test questionnaires
D) notes taken by test administrators as they observed participants

Question 26

Which of the following is NOT part of obtaining informed consent?

A) asking for permission to record the test participant
B) explaining the purpose of the recording and how it will be used
C) explaining that the participant can stop the test or leave at any time
D) asking questions about the participant's background

Question 27

One factor affecting a decision about whether to evaluate or test a document is that document's relative importance. What are two other factors?

A) subjective satisfaction and ease of learning
B) time and money
C) error frequency and subjective satisfaction
D) time and memorability

Question 28

When is the appropriate time to monitor documents remotely?

A) during the planning stage
B) during the design phase
C) when the document is in prototype form
D) after documents are published or "go live"

Question 29

Who usually serve as the participants in a guided evaluation?

A) real-world users of the document
B) people who match the profile of potential users of the document
C) volunteers
D) experts in usability, technical communication, or the subject matter of the document

Question 30

Which of the following is NOT an example of a setting for a usability study?

A) a guided evaluation
B) your own review of a document that you created
C) user testing in context
D) remote monitoring

Question 31

Which of the following tools provides visualizations of the areas on a website that users have clicked most frequently?

A) web analytics
B) heat mapping tools
C) online feedback forms
D) post-test questionnaires

Question 32

Focus groups are most likely to be held at which stage of development of a document?

A) design stage
B) prototype stage
C) published stage
D) planning stage

Question 33

Which of the following should a test administrator NOT do during a usability test?

A) Ask the participant to think aloud while using a document or website.
B) Ask leading questions when the participant gets stuck.
C) Respond to the participant's questions with direct answers such as "Yes, click that link."
D) Use neutral phrasing to avoid biasing the test participant.

Question 34

What kinds of questions should a test administrator ask of a participant in a usability test who is unable to complete a task?

A) closed questions
B) demographic questions
C) biased questions
D) leading questions

Question 35

One factor affecting the usability of a document or website is its efficiency of use. What does efficiency of use measure?

A) the time it takes a person to carry out a task after learning how to do it
B) the time it takes a person to learn to use the item
C) a person's ability to remember how to carry out a task
D) the ease with which a person recovers from errors made in carrying out a task.

Question 36

Which of the following steps is NOT part of the process of conducting a usability test in a lab setting?

A) staffing the test team
B) preparing test materials
C) preparing for a site visit
D) selecting participants

Question 37

Who are the best participants to include when you are testing documents in a controlled setting or lab setting?

A) subject-matter experts
B) usability experts
C) representative users of the document
D) company employees

Question 38

How does money affect the decision to conduct a usability test?

A) Participants in a usability test need to be compensated for their time.
B) You must pay to file a copy of the usability report with your company's central office.
C) Each test must be reviewed by a lawyer or board-certified specialist.
D) You must purchase special software for recording participants' comments.

Question 39

Which of the following is an example of a cognitive walk-through?

A) An evaluator is asked to carry out a set of tasks using a document or website.
B) A test participant is asked to think aloud while using a document or website.
C) A test participant is interviewed after a usability test and asked to describe what he or she was thinking during the test.
D) A test participant fills out a post-test questionnaire.

Question 40

Which of the following kinds of problems would a usability study be LEAST likely to uncover?

A) problems with navigation
B) confusing icons or design elements
C) information that does not interest the reader
D) problems with the organization of information