Introduction: job title, background, and toolbox
At Mixed Methods, we’re obsessed with the hows and whys of user experience research. Since we started the project about a year and a half ago, we’ve been delighted to find that we’re not the only ones! It turns out there are a lot of us out there interested in the subject, and even in other practitioners of it. We frequently hear members of the Slack group asking for advice about how to get into the field, deal with uncooperative stakeholders, continue learning/growing as a researcher, etc.
What could go wrong when testing an Amazon Alexa skill
How do you test an interface you can’t see? Imagine that you engage in a conversation while the person you meet is talking to a voice system.
I recently took on a challenge to conduct usability testings for an Alexa skill — Amazon Echo’s version of app — that enables customers to access the new functionalities. The opportunity to explore an emerging space intrigued me. Testing a voice interface was new to me, so how can I tell if my plan is any good?
The good news is that the test planning for a voice interface generally progressed like a…
