Usability study: MS Word 2003 vs. Word 2007
| Version | Ultimate Failure with attempt | Number of unsuccessful attempts | No attempt to complete task | Successful in completing task | % success with task |
| 2003 | 2 | 22 | 8 | 30 | 75% |
| 2007 | 5 | 37 | 15 | 20 | 50% |
SUMMARY
This study was a comparative analysis between Microsoft Word 2003 and 2007 conducted for the final project for HCDE 517: Usability Testing. Microsoft provided us with mentorship and gratuities for our participants.
MY ROLE
User Researcher (assisted in composing the user profile and screener, writing the test plan, moderating, analyzing results, and presenting findings)
PROCESS
- Discussed the project's main goals with the Microsoft project sponsors
- Created a user profile and screener
- Wrote the test plan. Methods used:
- Within Subjects Design
- Think Aloud Protocol
- Time on Task (Taking into account that this would be affected by the repetition of tasks performed in each version)
- Conducted the study on four participants
- Analyzed the results and documented the main findings
- Presented to the class and to the Microsoft sponsors
"Thanks again for all the hard work and great presentation last week. Denise and I really appreciate it, and were very impressed with the work you did. I assume you’ve gotten you’re a+ from Jenny by now and Denise and I are excited about reading your report in its entirety." - Microsoft Sponsor
RESULT
This project was very well received by our Microsoft sponsors and our professor.Group Members: Priya Guruprakash, James Humphrey, Sarah Warren, JJ Ball