Spotlight on David Parker

Eastman Chemical Company

“This phenomenal tool has really helped us get much more out of our usability testing without spending the enormous amount of money to build a ‘high-tech’ testing lab. We are able to use Morae on a computer in a cubicle and get the same results as those spending thousands to build a special usability lab,” David Parker said.

Mr. Parker is a systems technologist in Eastman Chemical Company's e-Business/e-Commerce organization which is a part of the IT organization, located at the Corporate Headquarters in Kingsport, Tennessee. He has been with Eastman for 17 years, and for the last two years, he has been acting as the testing team lead.

Before learning about Morae at a conference, Eastman conducted usability tests by seating an observer next to the test subject. The observer would then be charged with recording the tester’s actions. Mr. Parker said, “Data was always rather difficult to gather without missing something that may have been critical. Also, we were using a cubicle for our testing, and there was just not enough room for more than one observer at a time in the confined space.”

Eastman is currently using Morae to conduct usability studies in its e-Business arena. Mr. Parker said, “Using Morae allows us to conduct testing where the observers do not have to sit in the same room as the test subject during the entire test. This is very helpful when we are dealing with someone who is uncomfortable with a person watching their every key stroke and gesture.”

Using Morae also provides other benefits. He explained, “By capturing data on the computer screen and the test subject's facial expressions together, it lets us look more closely at what may have been a ‘pain point’ for the user. Many times, even if we are able to stay in the room with the test subject during the entire test, we will have missed something that may have seemed very subtle, but could have been very important information to the project team.”

Being able to capture the audio is important to Mr. Parker as well. He said, “I feel that it is a very strong point to be able to tell someone what you observed, and to let them hear what the test subject has to say from his or her own mouth. This removes any bias or mistakes when relaying what the person was trying to convey."

However, even though the software added a new step to the testing process, Mr. Parker didn’t mind learning it. He commented, “This is the easiest tool that I have used in some time. It is unusual to have a tool that is so full of features, yet so easy to use. I was able to get it up and running and start recording in a matter of minutes without cracking the manual.”

Without investing in an expensive usability lab, Eastman is still getting the quality test results.

Mr. Parker said, “We do not have a ‘high-tech’ testing lab with two-way mirrors and video cameras set up at several angles to capture data from our usability tests. But with Morae, we are now able to capture a lot of that same data using a cubicle to conduct our tests. If needed, the whole project team can view the usability tests and see specific examples of what was written in a usability report.”

He finished, “We are able to derive better information from our usability tests - without making our test subjects feel like test subjects.”