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Does it pass the 'grandmother test'?

November 2, 2005

One of the biggest mistakes a business can make is to misjudge its customers. This is especially true when it comes to designing a self-service kiosk application. The project is doomed to failure if you don't know who is the "self" in self-service.

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"How a company expects users to interact with a kiosk and what users actually do are often times very different," said Brian Ardinger, vice president of business development for kiosk software designer Nanonation.

"What makes intuitive sense to a company or a designer may not make sense to the typical consumer in your store. Usability testing is important because it puts real people in front of real systems to evaluate real interactions."

In other words, could even your grandmother use it?

Francie Mendelsohn, president of consulting firm Summit Research Associates, agreed. She said that she has seen lots of instances where all testing of an application is internal. "They test it, all right, they'll test it among themselves," she said. "So you've got a bunch of highly educated, technical people working on it. But do they let enough of the `great unwashed' use it? The answer is often No."

Ardinger is quick to point out the distinction between usability testing and quality assurance. The latter makes sure the components of the system - buttons, transactions, back-end - all work as they are supposed to. But the former makes sure those components are useful to end-users, allowing them to complete a transaction with minimum frustration or outside assistance.

"Usability testing addresses questions like, does the system match the expected brand appearance? Is the system easy to use? Does the terminology and navigation make sense to the user? Does it give the user a sense of confidence in the company and interaction?"

The perils of not testing

Mendelsohn, whose independent stance in the industry has put her in demand as a tester of new kiosk designs, said she's seen many instances in which it was obvious customers were not involved in usability tests.

"I've seen kiosks where you reach a dead end - you touch and you touch, and you get to a point where you can't get back. And you either quit and start over, or you just walk away," Mendelsohn said.

"I've also seen where people have demonstrated a kiosk to me; they'll touch certain buttons and not others because they know that those areas aren't live," she continued. "Well, the customer doesn't know! You can't put it out there until everything works. You have to really let other people get their hands on it."

"Usability testing should be part of an iterative design process," Ardinger said. "You don't have to wait until an application is complete before testing it with real users." He said methods like paper-prototyping and demo units can provide valuable insight while the application is still in the design process.

Ardinger also said that testing pays off, and quickly. As few as four or five user tests can reveal a large number of potential problems.

"Usability testing takes time and costs money, but the benefits are numerous," he said.

This article appeared in the Retail Kiosk & Self-Service Executive Summary, Fall 2005.