Evaluation of created technical artifacts is essential to check whether business goals are achieved. If not – why? And how should it be remedied?
Services
User validation
The nature of the validation tests depends on your QMS and development process. A validation test should be paired to the user requirement specification drafted during concept development and implementation.
Sprint review
A lean form of user evaluation is an integral part of each sprint in Agile work processes. This also enforces alignment between technical and usability design and implementation.
There are many tools and tricks to help collect this information and make it manageable. These are part of the toolbox I bring with me. During development, there will be a gradual transition from qualitative to quantitative studies.
User research methods
Semi-structured interviews
A semi-structured interview has a strict agenda of questions it want to answer, mixed with the opportunity to deviate into open discussion. Such interviews ideally take 1-2 hours, and are best conducted while the end user has a working prototype in front of him, to work on a concrete task.
Performance studies
As the technical artifacts get more mature, the combination of actual technical and usage performance can be checked. This should transitions into your existing performance and quality checks.
Field performance
Instrumentation of the final deployed solution will allow continuous monitoring of the actual use. As users get accustomed to the new system, their use pattern is likely to evolve with their experience. This must be embedded in your existing tracking systems.
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