[chisigmail] Usability Questionnaires - SUMI, MUMMS etc, has anybody got any direct experience or comments?

[Shane Morris]

Hi Tref, I don't have specific experience, but I will offer this at the risk of getting shot down by someone who actually knows what they're talking about. The questionnaires tend to focus on generic measures like satisfaction, confidence etc. If your site is at all transaction based (and you do call it an 'application'), then identifying a few representative tasks, defining them well (including success criteria), then running period usability evaluations with metrics (completion rate, completion time, # errors on the way...) will give you more specific data than tracking generic (and subjective) measures alone.

And if you do you'll be among a exclusive group of organisations who have actual before+after data, which will make you very popular on the speaking circuit - I guarantee it.

(Note that when doing actual measurements (with a stop watch) then you may need more subjects than a 'traditional' usability test in order to get significant data. (mind you, the same applies to the surveys). Can someone with greater testing/statistical powers should chime in at this point?)

Shane

Shane Morris  |  User Experience Evangelist  |  Microsoft Australia  |  +61 438 818 888  |  shanemo at microsoft.com<mailto:shanemo at microsoft.com>  |  blogs.msdn.com/shanemo<http://blogs.msdn.com/shanemo>



From: chisigmail-bounces at chisig.org [mailto:chisigmail-bounces at chisig.org] On Behalf Of Tref Gare
Sent: Wednesday, 13 December 2006 11:23 AM
To: chisigmail at chisig.org
Subject: [chisigmail] Usability Questionnaires - SUMI, MUMMS etc, has anybody got any direct experience or comments?

I'm trying to define some benchmarks against which to compare ongoing progress in the usability of a specific web application.  Ie: quantifiable metrics which I can point at and (hopefully) say, look, this stuff works.

To that end I've been looking into conducting user group surveys at regular intervals and was wondering if anyone has any experience with or advice about existing survey/questionnaires like SUS, SUMI, WAMMI and MUMMS.

I'd be curious to hear anybody else's experience or opinions.  Has anybody used them, do you think they are worthwhile for the stated purpose, are they as outdated as their websites seem to suggest?

Thanks in advance

Tref



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Tref Gare
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