Give Participants Time to Work through Hindrances

Keeping in mind that the participant may be very nervous is the first step.Skillfully working with the person's sense of frustration is the next step. There will be times when the participant becomes exceedingly frustrated during the course of a test. When you see that this is occurring, recognize this as a critical point that can be advantageous. Many test moderators, at the first sign of user frustration, will immediately tell the participant to give up and go on to the next task. They do this in order to avoid confrontation, keep things on an even keel, and maintain the participant's interest. However, because the frustration is usually related to a critical deficiency in the product, moving on too quickly misses an important opportunity. The participant's behavior at this point can he more revealing than at any other lime and can help the test team to understand how the participant learns to use the product It is important to encourage the participant to continue rather than cutting the task short too quickly. The trick is to find just that point when the participant is frustrated but is still willing to try.