The effect of global instructions on think-aloud testing

Authors:
Sharon McDonald;Helen Petrie
Affiliations:
University of Sunderland, Sunderland, UK;University of York, York, North Yorkshire, UK
Venue:
Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Year:
2013

Citing 3
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Identifying usability and fun problems in a computer game during first use and after some practice

International Journal of Human-Computer Studies - Human-computer interaction research in the managemant information systems discipline
Scrutinising usability evaluation: does thinking aloud affect behaviour and mental workload?

Behaviour & Information Technology
Think-aloud protocols: a comparison of three think-aloud protocols for use in testing data-dissemination web sites for usability

Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

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Abstract

Verbal protocols are the primary tool for understanding users' task-solving behaviors during usability testing. We investigated whether the classic think-aloud and a think-aloud with an explicit instruction leads to different task-solving performance compared to silent working. The results suggest that the classic method had no impact on task performance whereas the explicit instruction led to an increase in within-page and between-page navigation and scrolling activity. The classic method was linked to an increase in mental workload in terms of effort and frustration. The explicit think-aloud led to an increase in mental demand, performance, effort and frustration.