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| News You Can Use |
March 2008 | Issue 12 |
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| Letter from the Editor: Congratulations, and an opportunity |
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Thanks to all who responded to last month's survey! And congratulations to the winners, selected at random to receive one free month of access to UserVue for remote UX testing.
Two steps we're taking as a direct result of your feedback:
First, news about upcoming tradeshows and events was considered "least helpful" by readers. So instead of listing details for each event here in the newsletter—e.g., our reception at CHI in April—we'll include a permanent link to the Training and Events calendar. See it up there, just above this letter?
Most importantly, a full 75% of readers who completed the survey have never tried Morae! So today we're launching The Morae 30-Day Challenge.
The 30-Day Challenge begins right now, and since it's a bit of an experiment, this may be your only chance. So jump on board...we'll walk you through your first Morae project from start to finish. Read on for details...
Daniel Foster
Newsletter Editor
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If you've been waiting for the perfect time to try Morae, it's time to stop waiting and start testing!
Take the Morae 30-Day Challenge and you'll get a personal tour of Morae, receiving brief, step-by-step emails from our own User Experience Team experts.
You'll end the challenge with a finished usability project and knowledge of how to use Morae.
Best of all, you can discuss your experience with other challenge-takers and ask questions as you continue working.
To get started, just download the special, free, 30-day trial version of Morae and we'll guide you through the rest. Ready...set...go! |
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What is Morae? Software that lets you study real people as they use your Web site or software product, spot the problems they encounter, and build a convincing case for how to improve the experience. |
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| Customer Blog: "Usability testing is hell, but the software is cool!" |
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Bruce P. Henry, Director of Rocket Science at Liquid Planner |
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Bruce Henry had been doing usability testing, stumbled upon Morae, and wrote about it in his blog "Home on the Range" for LiquidPlanner. He sat through a lot of usability studies but never knew how they were created, so Morae was a brand-new experience for him. Morae exceeded his expectations for ease of use and an intuitive interface.
Bruce describes the kinds of things you can capture with Morae and how useful it is to a self-confessed "data junkie." He writes, "The tool itself is so cool that I'm actually looking forward to doing some more usability testing." It appears that even usability testing can be fun if you have the right software.
Bruce recommends watching the Morae demo videos so you won't "miss a good half of the awesome that is this product."
Read his whole blog post about Morae here...
Have a blog post or an article that you'd like to share? Email us.
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Todd Follansbee, Usability Consultant |
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What would you say if we called your users a bunch of liars?
While lying isn't their intention (nor are we going to call them that), Todd writes in his latest article that users' words often "misrepresent their feelings" while their faces and bodies will reveal what they are actually thinking.
In his last article, Todd shared how user testing can measure visitors' first impressions of a Web site. This month, Todd discusses how to understand users' feelings and reactions to your home page by using Morae. While any video recorder tool can capture facial expressions and body language indicators, Morae will tie that visual cue to what the user was looking at on-screen or to a task they were attempting to accomplish.
Todd explains how to set up the correct environment for testing, and then lists specific examples of facial expressions and body language clues that indicate homepage impact—all in just 8 seconds of the test subject scrolling around a Web page. He also explains how to review these indicators in context to understand the subject's behavior.
Traffic metric analysis alone will show what a user is doing on a site, but not what causes their actions. Todd writes, "Advanced direct user testing teaches us the why's about user behavior as well. I believe it is the way of the future in user experience work and Morae makes it possible."
Read Todd's entire article here...
We're looking for more guest authors! Have an idea for an article? Email us.
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| Tips & Tricks: Troubleshooting Recorder-Observer connections |
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Conan Heiselt, Instructional Designer |
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If you're having issues using Morae Observer to view participants on the recording machine, this is the tutorial for you! This tutorial video will help you identify the problems you are having and in many cases help you to solve them.
The video is customized—you answer questions about your particular scenario and receive information based on your answers.
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You may be having connection issues, communication issues, or a problem with your ports—all of these issues and more are covered in this tutorial video.
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Sally Johnson, Technical Communicator |
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Depending on the Observer options you choose, you may experience a video delay in Observer. This tutorial explains how to choose the correct options for your testing environment and why this delay happens. In this lesson we will cover, "Help Me Choose" and "Observer Sessions Options Explained."
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Morae
Usability Testing
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UserVue
Remote User Research
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Logitech QuickCam Pro 5000
Digital Zoom and Pan
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TechSmith Lapel Microphone
High Quality Sound
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Camtasia Studio
Recording and Presentation
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Screencast.com
Media Hosting
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www.techsmith.com |
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