Seems as Remote Usability Testing will be becoming more pervasive in the future.
Uxited.com reports positive findings on their remote usability testing which were conducted over the course of two days.
Uxited’s findings on the benifits:
- You hear what the user is saying (and perhaps listen better since you’re not distracted by what he/she looks like).
- You see the user’s on-screen activity including what browser they use and how it’s set up (e.g., number of toolbars).
- You get a better understanding of the user’s natural environment (whether their speakers are hooked up, whether there’s a dog in the house, etc.).
- You may get more honest feedback. I’m not sure what the research says about this, but my impression was that people not meeting face-to-face with a facilitator may be more comfortable saying what they really think.
- No need to sit in a dark room behind one-way glass, nor keep our voices down when we wanted to discuss users’ comments during a test. (Our conference line was on mute, of course.)
- No travel costs
We from pidoco° have been stressing the very same benifits for some time now and since our Remote Usability Tester has been available as a public BETA, we have been gaining heaps of positive feedback on this process.
Certainly, in the age of the real-time communication it is just another step towards improving communication within business and private realms whilst protecting the environment. (Soon no more business trips in First Class needed, sorry guys!)
Welcome to the future of UX.. 😉