NCSU Libraries Focus Online
Volume 23 number 3 - Spring 2003
LRCDA: Usability Research Laboratory
By Kelsey Libner, NCSU Libraries Fellow
The Usability Research Laboratory exists to help interested faculty, students,
and staff learn the benefits of a user-centered approach to computer interface
design and to support usability testing. As a test participant explores the
functions of computer interfaces or online documents, special equipment in
the lab can collect video, audio, and computer data generated in real time
for observation and analysis. The lab has two separate rooms: one for observation
and recording of the test session and another for the test participant.
The lab is available for use by instructors who assign their students to design
and run usability tests as part of class projects. It is also available to
faculty, staff, and students in the campus community wishing to incorporate
usability testing into their Web sites or course development processes. A variety
of usability-testing methods can be selected and tailored to the resources
and needs of each project.
The lab's Web site (http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/dli/usability/)
provides a brief introduction to usability and links to resources on planning
and carrying out tests. A selection of books on usability is available in the
lab for visitors to learn more about user-centered design. Staff members in
Digital Library Initiatives and the Learning Technology Service provide consultation.
With the Digital Media Lab on one side and the offices of the Learning Technology
Service and Digital Library Initiatives Department on the other, the Usability
Research Lab is well positioned to serve the research and development projects
of the students, faculty, and staff of NC State. Please direct questions to
the lab manager, Kelsey Libner, at (919) 513-0211 or send an electronic-mail
message to kelsey_libner@ncsu.edu.
|
