Flexibility

Another related characteristic of an effective test moderator is flexibility, which has to do with knowing when to deviate from the test plan (we discuss this further in Chapter 9). There are times when a particular participant does not have the expected skills or simply views the task in a completely different way than was originally intended. Jeff conducted a test when the entire high-level design of an interface became questionable after testing only two participants. 

He could see immediately that the premise for the design was flawed. At that time, he recommended that the company halt testing and go back to the drawing board. To continue ferreting out minor problems with the product would have been a waste of everyone's time. While this is an extreme case, the point is that one needs to be prepared for the unexpected, even if that ha, serious consequences.