Usability testing: afternoon fatigue

You may have noticed a lack of posts from me in the past couple of weeks: I was in Berlin for MobX and then on an exhausting design sprint last week.

And that’s what I’d like to write about today. In the classic design sprint, the Friday is reserved for testing your prototype.

Here’s how a day of testing normally goes for me. In the morning, I’m an considerate, lucid test moderator. I can formulate interesting questions on the fly at the right moment; and I can help the participants clarify what they were perceiving / thinking by asking the right questions.

By late afternoon however, I’m no longer an insightful moderator. It’s not that I can’t remain considerate, or avoid leading questions, it’s that when I’m tired I can’t improvise as well: I’m not so good at spotting interesting moments to ask the participants about, and I’m not as good at clarifying and framing what happened after the fact.

It’s on this basis that if two moderators are present, swap roles occasionally. Give your moderator a break! If your test script is reasonably well documented, it shouldn’t be too hard. The required level of concentration is super-hard to maintain, especially at the end of an already busy week.

PS - Jake Knapp came in last week to teach design sprinting for us in London as part of our Clearleft presents series, next up is Mike Monteiro!