My Proposal

My proposal will comprise of the usability test that I outlined within my first post for this course. Additionally, it will include the elements of research we have discussed throughout the first half of our course. I will be re-reading a lot of the text to ensure I have a good idea of every concept that will be applicable to the study. As our learning continues, flexibility will be necessary in order to incorporate the newer concepts we will be reading about. These types of changes should only be done academically as changes to a experiments design at a late stage are generally unwarranted.
 

Purpose

This project seems to leave a lot to interpretation so it will be important to ensure I implement the concepts correctly. Being that this is formatted as a proposal, the research has to have an actionable purpose. The purpose around this research proposal is to introduce the importance of usability testing to a company with some type of online interface.
 

Resources

I have previously outlined two text that talk about usability testing. These titles are  ‘Don’t Make Me Think’ by Steve Krug and ‘The Design of Everyday Things’ by Don Norman. I will be reviewing these text to understand usability testing prior to molding the test into a applied research proposal. I will also be conducting literature reviews on other test to compare the process. These will be found within databases. Gale online being my preferred one.
 

Methods and Approach

Usability testing utilizes a combination of interviewing techniques and observation to collect qualitative data about what users struggle with when using an interface.  Quantitative data can be obtained post-test by asking participates to complete a survey as well. Of course, this is a proposal so I will present the scenario in a chronological manner while discussing the future benefits of the data being collected. To make the test experimental, we need to have a sample of participants that already utilize one interface to complete some task, then present our ‘treatment’ in the form of a new interface to a experimental group. This is where my proposal will differ from other usability test. Generally, they look to gather participants that have little to no experience with their application to be a part of their test.
 

Challenges

While I do not think I am confused with any part of the assignment, it does leave a lot to be interpreted.  I believe as long as I do a good job incorporating elements of well-designed research it will go well.  I will likely struggle with the imaginative aspects of this assignment.  By this I mean I will find it difficult to cater to the proposal aspect of this task by imagining myself presenting the proposal to a board of some kind.  I will also have to identify personal limitations and biases that may arise as I create the project.