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Abstract This paper provides a brief review of the Hawthorne effect, a discussion of how this effect relates to usability studies and help for practitioners in defending their studies against criticisms made on the basis of this effect. Practitioner’s Take Away The Hawthorne effect can be (mis)used as a basis on which to criticize the validity of human-centered studies, including usability studies. Therefore, it is important that practitioners are able to defend themselves against such criticism. A wide variety of defenses are possible; depending on which interpretation of the Hawthorne effect is adopted. To make an informed decision as to which interpretation to adopt, practitioners should be aware of the whole story regarding this effect. A precursor to any defense …

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Abstract When our company chose to adopt an Agile development process for new products, our User Experience Team took the opportunity to adjust, and consequently improve, our user-centered design (UCD) practices. Our interface design work required data from contextual investigations to guide rapid iterations of prototypes, validated by formative usability testing. This meant that we needed to find a way to conduct usability tests, interviews, and contextual inquiry—both in the lab and the field—within an Agile framework. To achieve this, we adjusted the timing and granularity of these investigations, and the way that we reported our usability findings. This paper describes our main adaptations. We have found that the new Agile UCD methods produce better-designed products than the “waterfall” versions …

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Abstract A usability study was conducted to identify usability problems as well as recommendations for improvement for three travel sales websites. The study performed testing on twenty participants, between the ages of 19 and 65, recruited from the university campus consisting of students, faculty, and staff. The three websites tested were Expedia.com, Orbitz.com, and Travelocity.com. Each participant was given general instructions and a pre-survey to determine their demographics and level of Internet experience. The usability study tested participants on the task of finding the same itinerary on each travel website. The participant during testing was under observation of the experimenter that maintained an observation log. A post-survey along with a debriefing session was conducted to gather additional feedback. The average …

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Welcome to the inaugural issue of the Journal of Usability Studies. This journal was born in response to a growing need in the community of usability practitioners and researchers. Have you ever you looked for the most recent findings of usability studies that you can learn from or wondered where to publish interesting results from your own usability studies? Until now, there was no available forum for usability practitioners and applied researchers to share and disseminate many of their findings and experiences that are of general interest to this community. To meet this need and to fill the gap between academic research and business case studies, the Journal of Usability Studies was born. This publication will be a peer-reviewed, on-line …

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UTEST, the online community of user experience (UX) practitioners and researchers, celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. If you are a member, you know it as a place where you can ask questions, get help and opinions from your UX colleagues, contribute to discussions, find out about potential jobs and interesting non-profit events, and even try out unpolished, inchoate ideas knowing that discussions will be professional and respectful. If you aren’t a member, consider joining us by writing to tharon@clemson.edu and asking for an application. (Note that we usually spell the community’s name, UTEST, all capitals, no hyphen. Since the birth of the UTEST community, a number of commercial companies have given themselves similar-sounding names. This may be a tribute …

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