Adapted from Krug (2000).
Hi. Thanks for agreeing to talk to me for my project. I'm going to be walking you through this session.
You probably already know, but let me explain why I've asked to talk to you today: I'm testing our web site to see what it's like for actual people to use it.
I want to make it clear right away that I'm testing the site, not you. You can't do anything wrong here. In fact, this is probably the one place today where you don't have to worry about making mistakes.
I want to hear exactly what you think, so please don't worry that you're going to hurt my feelings. We want to improve it, so we need to know honestly what you think.
As we go along, I'm going to ask you to think out loud, to tell me what's going through your mind. This will help me.
If you have questions, just ask. I may not be able to answer them right away, since we're interested in how people do when they don't have someone sitting next to them, but I will try to answer any questions you still have when we're done.
We have a lot to do, and I'm going to try to keep us moving, but we'll try to make sure that it's fun, too.
The notes I'll be taking today will become part of my report, but you will not be personally identified and all your thoughts and answers will be anonymous (to the readers of the report).
Do you have any questions before we begin?
Before we look at the site, I'd like to ask you just a few quick questions. First, what's your position here in the Department?
Good. Now, roughly how many hours a week would you say you spend using the Internet, including email?
How do you spend that time? In a typical day, for instance, tell me what you do, at work and at home.
Do you have any favorite Web sites?
How many times a week do you estimate that you use the Dept. web site?
A day?
Has that changed in the past year? (particularly since the new version last summer)
What are typical pages you use on the site?
Are there local documents that you refer to in your work that are not part of the site?
OK, great. We're done with the questions, and we can start looking at things.
First, I'm just going to ask you to look at the home page and tell me what strikes you about it, and what you think you would click on first.
And again, as much as possible, it will help us if you can try to think out loud so we know what you're thinking about.
Next, I'd like you to go to a page you typically use. If you have it bookmarked, you may access it that way.
Tell me what strikes you about it, and what you think you would click on first or how you would use the page.
Finally, I'd like to ask a few questions about navigation. How easy is it to get to pages in the site?
Are you ever unable to find pages or documents that you expect to be on the site?
Have you used the index or search?
Thank you!