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Product's Usability Testing in China - 4 January 2005
by Qin Lin and Liezhong Ge
Usability Background
The usual reference to a product’s usability is to its efficiency of use, learnability and satisfaction. With the current development of economy and technology, usability testing of a certain product in China has been developed recently based on the following aspects:
- The (local) branches of some foreign companies such as Siemenss and Motorola in China has adopted usability testing in their localization studies to a large extent.
- It is promoted by direct marketing demands. Our country’s economic development has explored a great market for usability testing. Take mobile phones as an example, although it is estimated that the production of mobile phones in our country will amount to 170,000,000, there is the pressure of storage of 40,000,000 mobile phones need to be sold. One of the (possible solutions to resolve the problem is to improve the usability of mobile phones. Nowadays, every large company in the mobile phone industry has started its own mobile phone usability testing. In a word, the development of usability testing is dependant on economic development product technological advances and market demand.
Current Status
Product usability testing in China involves three steps:
- The study on user’s model of product:
We should integrate users? expectation about product’s functions and their demands about design and appearance of products into the product’s developing process during the early stage of product development by studying the user’s working environment and using habits of product. The resulting study can help enterprises improve on product design or explore an idea of the new product.
However, most user research is at present mostly based on market study and research, which decreases the reliability of research data. User study in the field of usability mainly aims at user study of usability design. It has its own special methodology and process. Currently, the domestic Chinese companies such as Lenovo Research Institute, Haier and Huawei and foreign companies such as Siemens , IBM and Honeywell do well in this aspect.
- The study on Interactive Design:
In terms of design, most companies are only attentive to creative process but have little consideration about its usability. For example, industrial design mostly pays attention to the creative aspect, the focus of user interface design is on graphic design, and neither pays any consideration to the level of the user’s experience of design.
- Testing and Evaluation about Product Design:
Usability testing is a process of investigating the level to which representative users can use a product to efficiently and effectively perform their tasks. It offers a standardized methodology to ensure that every facet of the application will be scrutinized for its user friendliness, functionality and aesthetics.
The usability testing currently is not widely used in China. In most cases, it is the designers and not the users who get to chose the design solution. Only a few large companies have added usability testing to the design cycle.
We may say that the levels of product usability testing in China are comparatively low, The main problem is that the work of usability testing is not incorporated with product design initially, which reduces the functions of usability testing. Ideally speaking, usability testing should be incorporated with the product’s design process initially, to improve the design of product with the results of testing. This may also eventually save design costs and give a competitive edge to the product.
Usability Research Institutes
In China, the work of product’s usability testing is mainly taken on by the research center of large companies, professional companies and colleges etc. According to the present cases, Siemens and Motorola are the earliest companies developing usability study in China. Their work is related with the localization on their respective products. Lenovo and Haier are the domestic companies which develop usability testing comparatively early. They both have special research institutes of usability testing. In addition, many companies such as UTStarcom consolidated their work about usability testing with the product’s User Interface design.
Institute of Psychology of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Department of Psychology of Zhejiang University are the earliest research institutes to develop product usability testing. For example, Institute of Psychology of CAS does user research and usability research for Lenovo in duel model computer project. Product’s Usability Testing Center was established in the department of psychology of Zhejiang university of science in 2004. The center is in charge of the studies of product’s usability testing of Konka, HP etc.
UPA China
Usability Professionals’ Association China Chapter, UPA was founded in Shanghai under the promotion of Chinese professionals of product usability testing. The association is a professional group consisting of professionals in the domain of Chinese usability testing, which is devoted to the enhancement of the skills of professionals of usability and students, to promote the communication between the professionals both in China and abroad and to advance the development of the concept of usability in China.
We are sure that product’s usability testing in China will be greatly developed in the future years due to the followings: ith the increasing improvement of economic and technological levels , the market’s demands on product’s usability will become higher and higher. Moreover, our country is processing good organization and technology which will develop usability testing and UPA China will play an important role in it.
Qin Lin is a currently user interface designer and usability specialist in UTStarcom for many consumer products and system products. She also is a senior consultant in Shanghai ETU.ltd. Previously she worked in Lenovo and Motorola as usability expert and user interface designer. She also a founding member of UPA China, She is President of UPA China. Lin Qin UPA China Chapter President.Email: qin.lin@etucn.com Tel: 86-13916962333
Liezhong Ge, Ph.D. Doctor Ge is currently the vice president of the Industrial Psychological Sub-society of Chinese Psychological Society, and also the head of the Institute of Psychology in ZheJiang University of Science. He is the specialist in the area of Human Factors, Human-Machine Interface, Cognitive psychology and usability research.
Email: glzh@hzcnc.com，topglzh@hotmail.com Tel: 86-13957156653
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