TABLE OF CONTENTS If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it still make a sound? If a usability test is conducted and no one observes it, does it still provide value? I'm still pondering the tree conundrum, but I'm pretty sure the answer to the second question is no. The main goals of usability testing are to get information from the users about how to make the product better and to deliver that information to the people who can act upon it. A fast and efficient means of achieving that goal is to have product team members observe the usability test.
Given 21st century technology, perhaps there will come a day when people who appear to be sitting across the table may in fact be across the world. But until that day comes, we are stuck with the fact that long distance just isn't the same as being there and an observer who is in another room might as well be halfway across the world. The more that observers are separated from users, the more data they will miss facial expressions, tone of voice, gestures, and so on.
Although a usability lab with good equipment theoretically allows observers to hear clearly and to see both the interface and the users, it's still possible to miss many nuances. My colleague Donna Cooper has facilitated many tests where she sat in the room with the user, and observers watched the test via...
