Decide on a Location and Space

In the early days of usability testing, the main assumption was that nearly all usability tests were highly structured and quite formal. In addition, most usability testing was done on products used in offices. Technology has expanded greatly in the last 15 years and so has the application of usability testing. As we have learned through our own experiences, not all testing should be done in a lab setting, and sometimes doing testing in a lab simply is not practical. The location of the test sessions is intricately linked with the design of the study and who the users are. There are other considerations as well, as we discuss in the next section.

The discussion in the rest of this chapter assumes that you will want people to observe the sessions who are not employed in moderating the test. Consider carefully from what location you want the observers to observe. You, as the moderator, get to decide. Are you comfortable having observers in the room 

with you? (Remember, you'll have to train them on how to be in the session.) How do you feel about observers possibly talking among themselves while observing from outside the testing room?

Also, especially for beginner moderators, we recommend that you concentrate on moderating and get some one else to take notes or log data.