User Experience, Design, Technology, Life

I wanted to share my experiences of user testing with investment bank sales staff and traders on the trading floor, since it is a world away from the relative piece and quiet of a dedicated usability lab.

In order to test anything with users on the trading floors, we have to go to them, since there is little or no chance of dragging them away from their desk, even for short periods of time. This presents the first challenge. The trading floors are noisy, hectic and intense environments where you can expect frequent interruptions. Sales staff and traders can be very short on time and prone to distractions. Their ‘day job’ has to come first. Setting up an appointment in their calendars can occasionally work, but you are just as likely to walk into the middle of a small financial crisis using that approach, as you are by just ‘cold calling’.

Most banks will not allow the installation of prototypes or recording software on participants’ computers, so your test materials will have to be portable. This is where I’ve often encountered my next challenge, the lack of desk space. What with notepads, files, books, iPods, multiple keyboards and the telephone ‘dealerboard’, there is often little space left to set up your test materials.

Some of these challenges can be mitigated very easily. In the first instance, turn your laptop into a portable usability lab. There are plenty of software choices for both PC and Mac, but I prefer a combination of Silverback and Axure prototypes on an Apple Powerbook, or better yet on a Macbook Air.

Silverback is very lightweight, but is does a wonderful job of recording the screen as well as the participant’s face and voice. Clicks are highlighted in the recording by small ‘sonar pings’ and you can even add markers into the recording using an Apple Remote. Since everything is being recorded, the think aloud protocol works very well, and you will not need to crowd your participants with another person for note taking. If you are planning on recording video, take along a piece of electrical tape or a lump of blu-tack, just in case the participant does not want to be on recorded. Stick it over the camera so you can still record the conversation, if your participant agrees.

If you are using a laptop for testing, remember to bring a mouse and ensure it is similar to one the participants will be used to.

Try to keep the test sessions as short as possible, with the bare minimum of preamble. Focus on the key tasks and flows and keep them as short as you can. Remember that even a 15 minute session with most of the sales people and traders is likely to be pushing it, but you should be able to squeeze five to six short tasks into that time. Set up the next recording session before you get to the participant so the only thing you have to do is your short introduction.

So there really is no excuse for not testing, even in a challenging environment.