UX Usability Testing 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is a 'hallway usability test'?
- A test conducted in a hospital hallway
- A quick, informal test with whoever is conveniently available (Correct answer)
- A formal lab test with strict protocols
- A test that only measures navigation menus
Correct answer: A quick, informal test with whoever is conveniently available
Hallway testing is an informal, rapid method where anyone nearby is recruited for a quick usability check.
Question 2: In usability testing, what is a 'critical error'?
- A typographical error in the task scenario
- An action that prevents the participant from completing the task (Correct answer)
- A mistake only expert users make
- An error logged in the server console
Correct answer: An action that prevents the participant from completing the task
Critical errors are failures that block task completion entirely, making them high-priority issues that must be resolved before launch.
Question 3: What is the purpose of a pre-test questionnaire in a usability study?
- To teach participants how to use the product
- To collect demographic and experience background data (Correct answer)
- To measure post-task satisfaction
- To obtain informed consent
Correct answer: To collect demographic and experience background data
Pre-test questionnaires capture baseline information about participants' demographics, tech experience, and familiarity relevant to the product being tested.
Question 4: Which of the following best describes a 'benchmark usability test'?
- A test used to discover the most critical usability issues
- A test that measures performance metrics against a standard for comparison over time (Correct answer)
- A test conducted only with competitor products
- A test with no task scenarios
Correct answer: A test that measures performance metrics against a standard for comparison over time
Benchmark tests establish quantitative baselines so that future iterations can be measured against a known reference point.
Question 5: When a participant struggles with a task but the moderator should NOT intervene, the appropriate action is to:
- Give a hint immediately to save time
- Observe silently and note the struggle as a usability finding (Correct answer)
- End the task and move on
- Redesign the task on the spot
Correct answer: Observe silently and note the struggle as a usability finding
Allowing struggle without intervention reveals genuine usability barriers; intervening would mask problems that real users would encounter alone.
Question 6: What is 'eye-tracking' used for in usability research?
- Recording participant interview audio
- Measuring where users look on a screen to reveal attention and confusion patterns (Correct answer)
- Tracking the researcher's gaze during observation
- Measuring screen brightness preferences
Correct answer: Measuring where users look on a screen to reveal attention and confusion patterns
Eye-tracking records fixations and saccades to create gaze plots and heat maps showing which areas attract or miss user attention.
UX Usability Testing 2
What is a 'hallway usability test'?