Introduction and Body of Report

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Introduction

On March 1, 2009, Andy Alvarez created a tutorial designed to instruct his audience on performing color correction to photographs within Adobe Photoshop. Upon completion of the creation of this tutorial, a usability test was conducted to determine what areas could use improvement.
Questions were raised as regards, how memorable and learnable the tutorial is. These were evaluated on the basic standards and definitions of the MEELS. Within the body of this report, the definition of this acronym will be discussed.
Ultimately the purpose of this report is to provide the client, Andy Alvarez, with suggestions on how to improve his tutorial to be better memorable and learnable by his desired audience.
The contents of this report are as follows:
Importance of Usability Testing
Explanation of MEELS
Usability Test Method
Conclusions from Usability Test
Recommendations

Usability Testing

ﾠThe value of usability testing is that it helps identify problems within tech documents before they are unleashed on the general population. Usability expert Jakob Nielsen is quoted as saying, “It takes only five users to uncover 80 percent of high-level usability problems.” (Usability Testing, 2007, p.1)
David Travis provided the following reason for why usability testing is effective: “Improving efficiency also improves usage. For example, human factors firm HFI used usability methods to improve a recruitment web site for civil servants and made it 12 times faster to find a job. This redesign also boosted the percentage of people that could successfully find a job from 30% to 100%.” (2007)
Effective application of usability testing and the resulting recommendations will decrease the time spent learning the task at hand. Peter Cochrane explained the meaning of this, “The world is divided into two kinds of people: those who spend a great deal of time trying to save money, and those who spend a great deal of money trying to save time.” (Travis, 2007)

MEELS

MEELS is an acronym for the components that make up the definition of “usability” according to usability consultant Jakob Nielsen and computer science professor Ben Shneiderman. The letters or the acronym are represented as follows:
“Memorability: When users return to the design after a period of not using it, how easily can they re establish proficiency?
Efficiency of Use: Once users have learned the design, how quickly can they perform tasks?
Errors: How many errors do users make, how severe are these errors, and how easily can they recover from the errors?
Learnability: How easy is it for users to accomplish basic tasks the first time they encounter the design?
Subjective Satisfaction: How pleasant is it to use the design?” (Usability, 2009)

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M	memorability
E	efficiency
E	errors
L	learnability
S	satisfaction

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The two MEELS focused on in the usability test were memorability and learnability. These measures were chosen because they are very useful in determining if the instructions are successful in accomplishing their goal. It was hoped that upon testing the subjects would be able to successfully learn the instructions and remember how to accomplish the task without having to look back at the tutorial or ask for help.

Method of Testing

The usability test was approached with the project goal of determining if Andy Alvarez’s Color Correction tutorial was memorable and learnable.
The test began by selecting a target user audience. The test subjects would be selected from this audience. Aspiring photographers and graphic artists who already had basic skills in photoshop but could improve those by learning new techniques were sought. They would have some limited experience in graphic arts from taking basic classes or learning on their own but need to know how to execute common techniques required in their line or work.
Once the two test subjects were selected, the testing process was started. Each subject was provided with a “real life” scenario and task to help them feel the value of the instructions.
The scenario was: You’ve been asked to photograph a friend’s wedding to pad your portfolio. The composition of the shots was great but the lighting was just awful and now the colors just don’t seen right. What can you? You could always apply some color correction within Photoshop. The following instructions which we will be testing will teach you how to apply this useful technique to all your photos.
Then the subject was asked to complete the following tasks:
1. View and follow tutorial
2. Open Adobe Photoshop and load photograph
3. Complete tutorial steps
4. Submit finished result
Answer brief questionnaire
On April 6, 2009, the tests were completed according to a set protocol which consisted of the following steps:
1. Explain test to subject.
2. Introduce scenario.
3. Have the subject view tutorial at own pace.
4. Observe subject’s reaction.
5. Close tutorial.
6. Have subject open Photoshop and open desired photograph.
7. Have subject complete tutorial steps from memory.
8. Silently observe subject’s actions.
9. When completed, have subject present before and after of photograph.
10. Have subject complete brief questionnaire on what they learned and what they felt about tutorial.
11. Thank subject and excuse them from test.
The questions found in the test questionnaire were:
1. Do you think you would be able to complete this task again in the future without consulting the tutorial?
2. Were the directions clear enough for you to follow?
3. Was this tutorial useful for future projects?
Did you find the wording of the steps to be memorable and help you retain the process?

Test Conclusions

Very positive responses were received from the subjects upon completion of the test. One user even stated, “The instructions were very clear, concise, and easy to follow as well as remember. I don't see myself having any issues in successfully completing similar tasks in the future. The pictures made it even easier to understand. I look forward to future editing projects!”

ﾠ	Learnability	Understandability	Usefulness	Memorability
User 1	*	*	*	*
User 2	*	*	ﾠ	*

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As the chart illustrates, the tutorial was a hit in all the areas tested for. The only problem, was the one of the users questioned the usefulness of the tutorial to future assignments.

Recommendations

Because of the excellent results from the usability test, my recommendations are very limited. The main concern was that of grammar and accurate spelling.

(insert slide here)
The spelling error posted in the above slide seemed to be very distracting for the test subjects. This would be an appropriate error to correct.
Also the slide timing seemed a little quick. The users had trouble keeping up with the tutorial pace and needed to pause on each slide in order to read and comprehend everything. It would be wise to adjust the presentation timing to allow more time for each slide in the tutorial.
Overall, the tutorial was very effective and accomplished it’s goals. Therefore, that is the complete extent of my recommendations.