Usability Scenario Development
What is a scenario?
User scenarios are built around defined user profiles and personas and include descriptions of common user tasks.
Purpose
The purpose of user scenario development is to define and understand the circumstances in which the user would be likely to use the portal.
The goal is to build ideal user experiences that will most likely meet the expectation of the user group and result in the successful accomplishment of users' goals.
Key requirements for scenario
Some key requirements of a scenario for usability testing are that scenarios:
- must be designed from user group issues and requirements,
- are usually high-level goals from the user's perspective,
- must be reasonable and realistic, and
- must not include keywords or interface elements.
Example: do not use words in the scenario that are identical to those that appear on the screen.
Developing tasks
The following table outlines the main steps required to develop a task list for usability testing.
| Step | Action | Comments |
|---|---|---|
1. |
Determine the nature of the test and test goals | Understand the user groups, key metrics and qualitative data to be logged. |
2. |
Identify the right tasks |
|
3. |
Determine all site features that require testing | Make a list of the site features that require testing. This can include:
|
4. |
Phrase tasks as directed or non-directed scenarios using site features. | Write out complete tasks in a:
|
5. |
Determine sequence of tasks | Sequence final task list from
|
6. |
Check wording of tasks | Check that the wording does not:
|
Design tasks for testing site features
Users may initially go the Australia.gov.au website for information and find the information they need via a link provided to another website, such as the State or Local Government websites, as well as commercial websites.
In developing scenarios for testing, users should be asked to locate information from a variety of pages throughout the sites and access information that takes them out of the site. This is crucial in testing the navigational usability of the sites.
Sample tasks
The following table lists some sample tasks for testing site features.
| Site Features | Sample Tasks |
|---|---|
| Multiple Entry Points | |
| Entering the portal from the Australia.gov.au homepage |
Starting at www.australia.gov.au complete the following task. |
| Entering the site from the portal homepage |
Starting at www.[ ].gov.au complete the following task. |
| Entering the portal from a link from another website or from a search engine result |
Find www.[ ].gov.au using search engine (Google, Yahoo) |
| Main Features of the Site | |
| Menus and sub-menus | Go to [ ] page. |
| Navigation bars | Navigate to [ ] page or [ ] site. |
| A-Z lists | Use A-Z list to find [ ]. |
| Search engine | Find [product] using the search engine and go to the product page. |
| Advanced search | Customise your search to return [ ] results per page. |
| Utility Links | |
| Register | Register as a new user Note: Provide fictitious details for user. |
| Logon | Login using [username], [password] Note: Provide fictitious details for user. |
| Feedback | Locate and complete the feedback survey |
| Contact Us | E-mail the webmaster. |
| Site Maps | Use the site map to find [ ] |
| Moving out of the site and navigation back |
Close your browser window. Open the [ ] site. Navigate to [ ] site. Bookmark the URL of the [ ] site. |
Contact for information on this page: nsip@finance.gov.au