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| News You Can Use |
Jan 2009 | Issue 21 |
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If you are a Billy Joel fan, you know the song "Vienna". There is one line that always sticks out to me in that song..."But don't you know only fools are satisfied?" While I am sure that line was around well before the song, in this case, I have to attribute it to Mr. Joel.
I sincerely doubt that Joel had usability in mind when he was writing this but I think that line is a mantra for anyone in usability. Your software, website, customer service, product, whatever....can always be better. Here at TechSmith, we believe the same thing. We are always looking for customer feedback, conducting testing and all-in-all, trying to make our software better.
On that note, the first maintenance release of Morae 3 is available (it was actually available in December but this is the first chance I have had to tell you about it). We fixed a few bugs with this release. If you are using Morae 3, please make sure you get this one. It's a free update and you can find it through Morae. You should be prompted to check for an upgrade when you open Morae but if you have disabled that, you can also find an option in the Help menu called Check for Upgrade.
Still using Morae 2? Upgrade to Morae 3 and take advantage of AutoPilot recording, more capture options, multiple surveys, faster analysis, and more!.
Katie Birmingham
Newsletter Editor
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Dave O'Brien, senior consultant, Optimal Usability |
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I talked with Dave O'Brien at Optimal Usability and he gave me the run-down on their setup and some lessons learned....
"Here at Optimal Usability, we do a lot of usability testing for clients, and Morae 3 is the tool we rely on most.
"Our physical setup is pretty straightforward:
- We have a testing room with a PC running Morae Recorder, with a Logitech 9000 webcam and a wired Ethernet connection.
- An observation room with a PC running Morae Observer, using a projector to show the session on a wall screen. A sound-mixing box lets us connect up to six sets of headphones for observers who are usually client stakeholders.
- A usability analyst sits at their desk elsewhere in the office, using Morae Observer and headphones to take notes and make highlights in the session.
"In addition to on-screen testing, we also do a lot of paper-prototype testing, so for us, the biggest improvement in Morae 3 is the ability to use two webcams at the same time:
- A Logitech 5000 webcam is mounted on top of the screen and pointed at the participant (standard setup).
- A Logitech 9000 webcam is mounted beside the first one, but is pointed down at large (A3) paper mockups on the desk. We run this webcam at high resolution (800x600) to capture more paper detail.
- We illuminate the mockup with a flicker-free fluorescent desk lamp
"After several projects using Morae 3, we've learned a few things:
- Clients are initially skeptical about early paper testing, but are quickly convinced of its value once they observe a session or view a highlight video later. The low fidelity of the paper mockups helps us discover larger issues sooner.
- We use tape to mark out a "frame" on the desk, to keep the paper mockup on camera.
- Even with a high-resolution webcam, we haven't been able to get quite the clarity we'd like – small text on the paper mockups is not quite legible. Higher resolutions don't seem to improve the image. We currently give the observers copies of the mockups to refer to, but eventually we'd like to try Morae's DV-camera option to see if it delivers a clearer image.
- We use wired connections wherever possible. We’ve suffered occasional dropouts when trying to connect over WiFi (though this is probably just our ancient wireless setup showing its age – your mileage may vary).
- Having the observers wear headphones serves two purposes – it keeps the participant from overhearing their own playback next door, and it discourages the observers from talking during the sessions.
- The double-speed playback option in Morae 3 is a real godsend, letting us review recorded sessions much more quickly.
"We're hoping to explore more of the new features in Morae 3 in upcoming tests, but even so far, we're very pleased with the upgrade."
What do you think of Morae 3?
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Sally Johnson, Information Developer |
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Want to record a focus group? Software usability test? Mobile device test? Just select a template using the simple presets.
Morae sets up the initial details for you...like audio/visual sources, suggested markers, and who will launch recording. It even shows you a live preview of what will be recorded. From there, it's simple to add things like task definitions, discussion questions, surveys, and custom markers.
Want to use the same configuration again later? Just save and re-use. Check out this tutorial for a run-down of the presets templates and start saving yourself some time.
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Use video clips to isolate sections of your recordings that contain important activity you want to include in a highlight video.
In Manager you can create, play, and edit an unlimited number of video clips from each recording. Read this tutorial to find our how you can create video clips during your analysis for later use in your highlight video.
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