To usability labs, and beyond! New book explores online user experience studies

Usability experts and authors Bill Albert, Tom Tullis and Donna Tedesco have launched the first guide for conducting large-scale user experience research using the Internet.  Beyond the Usability Lab: Conducting Large-scale Online User Experience takes practitioners out of the ordinary controlled-lab setting with small groups, and into a World Wide Web of conducting online tests with thousands of participants.

Providing usability professionals and market and user researchers valuable information for designing, launching and analyzing an entire user experience, this book walks the reader through each step of the process.  It develops a deeper understanding of the techniques and capabilities of online usability testing, ensuring a cost-efficient and reliable large-scale online study will simultaneously make research goals attainable.

With global companies becoming increasingly interested in comparing data across target populations and exploring their widespread experiences, "User researchers will no longer have to choose between separate qualitative and quantitative research methods," explains Albert, Director of The Design and Usability Center at Bentley University (www.bentley.edu/usability), the User Experience Alliance's (UXalliance, www.uxalliance.com) most recent partner addition.

Senior Usability Specialist, Donna Tedesco, describes the online study as "An indispensable method" in her bag of user research tricks. "It can be purposed in so many ways, from simply testing the effect of a wording difference to understanding an entire product-wide user experience," she explains. 

"I hope this book will enable more people to see the power of this technique and begin using it," adds Tom Tullis, coauthor and Adjunct Professor at Bentley University.

Beyond the Usability Lab, published by Morgan-Kaufmann (www.mkp.com) and available for purchase on Amazon.com, is the second book to come from UXalliance partners. Read about conducting international user research studies in the Handbook of Global User Research (www.globaluserresearch.com).

About the Authors

Bill Albert is Director of the Design and Usability Center, and Adjunct Professor in Human Factors in Information Design program, both at Bentley University. Bill recently coauthored (with Tom Tullis) the first ever book on usability metrics, Measuring the User Experience: Collecting, Analyzing, and Presenting Usability Metrics, published by Elsevier/Morgan Kauffman in 2008.

Tom Tullis is an Adjunct Professor at Bentley University in the Human Factors in Information Design program. During his 30 years of experience, he has published numerous papers, spoken at national and international conferences, and holds eight U.S. patents. 

Donna Tedesco is currently a Senior Usability Specialist who has conducted numerous online studies over the last few years. She's presented at national and international conferences, and holds degrees in Engineering Psychology from Tufts University and Human Factors in Information Design from Bentley University. 

The UXalliance has served as a dependable and cost-effective partner to global companies since 2005. With over 250 global projects completed to date, 50+ usability labs, and nearly 300 user experience professionals, the UXalliance assures the quality and expertise clients look for in global research projects. Please visit www.UXalliance.com for more information.

Contact:
Aimee Reif, UXalliance Marketing Coordinator
aimee@uxalliance.com
+1.630.320.3910