Running head: USABILITY TESTING REPORT
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Usability Testing Report: How To Remove The Background Of An Image In Adobe Photoshop CS6 J. Ryan Wheeler St. Edward’s University
USABILITY TESTING REPORT
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In order to test the usability of the instructions “title” to help beginners remove a background from an image in Adobe Photoshop cs6. The research team designed and constructed a process analysis. This test consisted of three phases (testing, post interview, and analysis). The purpose of the report was to identify obstacles in the user experience and to clarify the instruction to increase the usability of the document. Analysis indicates problems at steps…. This report will document and identify stronger and weaker areas in the process and provide recommendations for improving usability.
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Usability Testing Report: How To Remove The Background Of An Image In Adobe Photoshop CS6 Introduction The purpose of this report is to identify strengths and weaknesses in the instructions document, “How To Remove The Background Of An Image In Adobe Photoshop CS6,” and provide recommendations for improvement. A usability test was conducted on students in a classroom setting. The research team collected data on unclear language or design. From this data, our researchers formulated suggestions for revision. Method Participants The sample for the current study was a sample of convenience recruited from St. Edward’s University campus with 3 participants. (N=3) Participants included one male and two females between the ages of 18 and 21. The sample represented Caucasian and Hispanic ethnicities. The participants ranged from some experience with Adobe Photoshop to no experience. Materials Testing Materials. Participants completed usability testing on Mac desktop monitors running Apple software and Adobe Photoshop CS6. Known confederates documented the participants experience with video recording software and note-taking. Instruction Document. The participants read and attempted to follow the instructions document. This document included a description materials needed to complete the process, a set of step-by-step directions, and troubleshooting advice. This document also included images to help the participants.
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Post-test Interview. Participants were given a post-test interview with 5 questions about their experience. Questions included how much experience participants had with Adobe Photoshop, what confused them, what they would change, and whether or not they thought the instructions document was helpful. Procedure Participants were instructed to attempt to remove the background of an image using Adobe Photoshop CS6 using the instructions document. They were also asked to explicitly explain their thought process as they encountered the document. While the participants completed this task, two confederates took notes and one other recorded the participant’s experience. After the participant completed the task, they completed a post-test interview about their experience. Results Users experience setbacks or confusion at Steps 2, 3, and 4. Users struggled to find the Magic Wand tool because they had to double-click the icon and this step was not reflected in the text of Step 2. Users also struggled with some jargon specific to Photoshop in Step 2. Users reported too much text in Step three, resulting in users feeling overwhelmed and skipping over this section. In Step 4, users struggled to distinguish actual steps from “helpful hints.” Discussion The most salient issues that novice users encountered was feeling overwhelmed by large blocks of text. These blocks of text also decreased readability and our users were unwilling to read them thoroughly. Our research shows some suggestions for improvement would be to break large blocks of text down into smaller subsections and frontload the instructions with images and
USABILITY TESTING REPORT icons. We also suggest to add in “quick tips” and separate them out from the main body of the text specially and with color. Strengths and Limitations: The current study was limited by the small sample size. Also, the sample was not representative of the population. The population our study was targeting was sophomore level students with some experience using Adobe Photoshop. Our sample was senior students with very little experience. However, the small sample size allowed the research team to closely assess the user’s process in detail.
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