Beyond Just Usability: Desirability Testing

Susan Mercer, Senior Experience Researcher

@susanamercer

Usability Testing

Usability

UsefulnessDesirability

UsabilityConsistent

Organized

Understandable

Simple

Efficient

Usefulness

Effective

Essential

Relevant

Helpful

Supporting

Desirability

Exciting

Fresh

Friendly

Encouraging

Meaningful

Usability

UsefulnessDesirability

DESIRABILITY TESTING METHODS

Open-Ended Questioning•What do you think of…?

•What is your reaction to…?

•How would you describe…?

Sentence Completion• This app makes me feel…

• If I used this all day, I would…

• Reading on this website is…

• Compared to other apps, this app is…

• I want to use this because…

• I do not want to use this because…

Product Reaction Cards•118 words

•58% positive•36% negative•6% unclear

•21% synonyms with 1+ other words

•Mostly positive words

Product Reaction Cards – Alternate List

• Removed synonyms

• Added opposites to create Positive / Negative Pairs

• Compared against two other emotional word vocabularies for Product Appeal and Emotions• Marc Hassenzhahl, Darmstadt University of Technology, Germany

• Geneva Emotion Wheel

Attractive Unattractive Exceptional Common Organized DisorganizedCalm Busy Exciting Dull Original OrdinaryClean Cluttered Exclusive Standard Personal ImpersonalClear Confusing Familiar Strange Pleasant AnnoyingCompelling Unimportant Fast Slow Predictable UnpredictableComprehensive Incomplete Flexible Rigid Professional UnprofessionalConfident Weak Fresh Old Relaxing StressfulConsistent Inconsistent Friendly Unwelcoming Relevant IrrelevantControllable Uncontrollable Frustrating Encouraging Reliable UnreliableConvenient Difficult Fun Tedious Satisfying DisappointedCostly Cheap High quality Poor quality Secure Not SecureCreative Unimaginative Impressive Nondescript Simple ComplexDesirable Undesirable Innovative Conservative Sophisticated UnrefinedEasy to use Hard to use Inspiring Unexciting Stable FragileEffective Ineffective Interesting Boring Supporting ObstructingEfficient Inefficient Manageable Overwhelming Time-saving Time-consumingEffortless Difficult Meaningful Trivial Understandable IncomprehensibleEmpowering Patronizing Motivating Discouraging Usable UnusableEnthusiastic Apathetic Novel Expected Useful UselessEssential Unnecessary Optimistic Pessimistic Valuable Not Valuable

Reliable Accessible Appealing Confusing

Comfortable Organized Professional Busy

Confident Straight Forward Approachable Complex

Effective Understandable Efficient Dull

Friendly Easy to Use Flexible Hard to Use

Inviting Clear Helpful Impersonal

Time-saving Convenient Overwhelming

Trustworthy Clean Boring

Useful Familiar Frustrating

Simplistic Intimidating

Valuable Stressful

Usable Time-consuming

CustomersCustomers & Non-Customers Non-Customers

Existing Design A Design B Design C0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70 68 67

62

42

2022

17

31

Number of Words

Positive Negative

Coun

t

Existing Design A Design B Design C

Appealing Appealing Appealing Appealing

Clean Clean Clean Clean

Efficient Efficient Efficient Efficient

Engaging Engaging Engaging

Intuitive

Professional Professional Professional

Useful Useful Useful Useful

Total 9 20 16 9

Product Reaction DyadsRate on a 5-point scale from Positive – Negative word pairs

Attractive Unattractive

Calm Busy

Clean Cluttered

Clear Confusing

Comprehensive Incomplete

-3.5 -2.5 -1.5 -0.5 0.5 1.5 2.5 3.5

Discouraging

Unrefined

Useless

Complex

Irrelevant

Boring

Expected

Unprofessional

Motivating

Sophisticated

Useful

Simple

Relevant

Interesting

Novel

Professional

Photo Selection

Open-Ended Questioning

Sentence Completion

Product Reaction Cards

Product Reaction Dyads

Photo Selection

What other methods have you used?

Susan Mercersmercer@madpow.com@susanamercer