Quote: usability experiments often fail to identify crucial problems with how a product is actually used [»whitJ5_1989]

Quote: usability labs create a distorting, artificial environment; no motivation, wrong social and work contexts, different temporal requirements [»whitJ5_1989]

Quote: system design requires 'real' implementations to test heavy loads and expansion [»birrAD4_1982]

Quote: despite extensive user testing of Andrew, missed novice users not knowing how to invoke menus with a mouse [»boreNS_1991]

Quote: in too many cases the usability experiment worked but the product didn't

Quote: DEC uses contextual or action research--action under uncertainty is the norm, can't postpone judgments, real situations [»whitJ5_1989]

Quote: Star based on the Alto; 1000 Alto's were built over a period of 8 years; one of largest prototyping efforts [»smitDC4_1982]

Quote: a hallway prototype allows informal experiments, gives visibility, and speeds progress [»goulJD8_1987]

Quote: children are good tests of a system; also children love the sense of accomplishment [»kayA3_1977]

Quote: video tape is not effective in usability testing; it is expensive, and it pits testers against engineers [»tognB_1992]

Quote: the persistence of negative results in user psychology suggests that many interface features are not important [»moraTP3_1981]

Quote: a null result from an experiment should always be questioned; could be due to noise in the experiment [»ledgH_1981]

Quote: noise in user testing is the most difficult of all problems; must be eliminated by design [»ledgH_1981]

Quote: very large user interfaces are difficult to test; and user comments do not yield much information [»siocAC10_1991]

Quote: user interfaces were largely irrelevant to help system effectiveness; most important was the quality of help texts [»boreNS_1991]

Quote: a cluttered, cryptic, alphabetic, help-less interface works well if the designers understand the users' background and tasks [»brooR3_1993]