You are performing a usability test of your illustrations, and when you ask your subject what the percentages on a pie chart represent, the subject gets a confused look on his face and says, "I don't know." What does this tell you about that illustration?
A) The illustration has poor usability.
B) You need to get a new test subject as the subject wasn't a representative test user.
C) You need to recreate or modify the illustration to ensure the target audience is able to interpret it correctly.
D) Both a and c.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Similar to how you test the design of your technical communication with target end-users, it is important to also test the effectiveness and ethical appropriateness of your illustrations. You must test your illustrations to ensure that users are able to interpret and make meaning from the illustrations in the way you intended. For instance, you may consider your tables and figures clear and engaging, but some of your readers might be unfamiliar with the kinds of illustrations that you are using and unsure of how to decipher a graph or interpret a diagram. Others may not understand the titles of a table or figure and not know what they represent; still others could misinterpret a caption for a photograph. Thereby, just as you conduct usability testing for your technical communication, you must conduct usability testing for your illustrations with representative readers. (It may be within the same usability testing session). Perform a usability test for your illustrations by presenting a copy of your illustrations and your test users to answer questions about the meaning of the illustration and the impression they get from it. You would observe each representative reader as he or she examines your illustration and assess the time it takes to answer each question as well as the accuracy of the answers.
You could thereafter interview the representative readers, either individually or jointly, about their impressions of your illustrations. Your questions could include the following:
What was your favorite illustration? Why?
Which illustrations were especially useful?
Which illustrations were confusing?
What elements in each illustration were helpful (e.g., colors, labels)?
What elements were unclear, distracting, or unnecessary?
What would make the illustrations more effective?
The results of this usability test will guide you in revising your illustrations according to the needs, interests, and abilities of your audience.

You Are Performing a Usability Test of Your Illustrations, and When