Effectively measuring the usability of any product requires choosing the right metric, applying it, and effectively using the information it reveals. Measuring the User Experience provides the first single source of practical information to enable usability professionals and product developers to do just that. Authors Tullis and Albert organize dozens of metrics into six categories: performance, issues-based, self-reported, web navigation, derived, and behavioral/physiological. They explore each metric, considering best methods for collecting, analyzing, and presenting the data. They provide step-by-step guidance for measuring the usability of any type of product using any type of technology.

. Presents criteria for selecting the most appropriate metric for every case
. Takes a product and technology neutral approach
. Presents in-depth case studies to show how organizations have successfully used the metrics and the information they revealed

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 10 Ratings

I learned some great new metrics - 2009-03-26
Reviewer Rating:
As a professional usability researcher working in a large corporation, I need to be able to 'tell the ROI story' convincingly. I learned some great things in this book that made me go Wow! e.g I'm loving the "lostness" metric, as a quantatitive way to measure how easy it is to find things on a site.

Also, there is a lot of practical guidance for collecting and working with various metrics, for example tips on measuring efficiency.

Definitely a must read.

Best stats book for usability...ever - 2008-12-17
Reviewer Rating:
One of the most useful books in my usability library. The statistical analysis discussions (and the rest of the book) are extremely easy to follow. Unlike most books on statistical analysis that I've come across, this book is written with statistical novices in mind. Although the book is primarily about what the title implies, as a bonus there are chapters about how to design a usability study to accommodate data collection and analysis. I recommend this book to anyone who has to analyze usability data.

Excellent practical guide - 2009-04-17
Reviewer Rating:
Tullis and Albert have written a very readable and very practical guide to UX metrics that will be be appreciated by readers at any experience level with regard to UX design. Particularly useful is the distinction made between issues-based and performance-based metrics, and the role of statistics and statistical validity in these two types of metrics. The primer on statistical analysis focused exclusively on how it can be applied in UX research is also a highlight for those working in UX design without a background in statistics. Overall, a valuable contribution to the UX literature.

Finally, a way to measure the user experience you're designing before you ship it! - 2009-03-11
Reviewer Rating:
As a professional User Experience Product Designer and PhD student in an HCI field, I am amazed by the lack of information out there with regard to measuring the relative success of a specific user experience. Worse yet, it's nearly impossible to find any well-described, proven methods for measuring a user experience that is still in the process of being designed. Most other sources talk about post-hoc measurement schemes.

This book is a tremendous leap forward in terms of measuring user experiences while they are being designed. It's worth buying this book for Chapter 6, let alone the rest of it! It's also well worth the money if you're a practitioner, or if you need to learn how to create and measure good user experiences. Strongly recommended.

Outstanding Text - 2009-11-17
Reviewer Rating:
Focus of the Book: The text discusses the different types of metrics garnered from usability testing (including performative metrics, issues-based metrics, self-reported data, web navigation and logging data, derived metrics, and behavioral/psychological metrics), and explains how best to analyze and present numerical usability information for stakeholders, with a few tips on how to make a Bo Schembechler blow horn.

Key Thematic Passage: "A usability metric reveals something about the interaction between the user and the thing: some aspect of effectiveness (being able to complete a task), efficiency (the amount of effort required to complete the task), or satisfaction (the degree to which a user was happy with his or her experience while performing the task)." (Page 8).

Best Passage: "No one has ever complained that something was too easy to use!" (Page 5). Drat. We want complainers, don't we? That's what keeps us in business!

Worst Passage: "The first question you must answer is how well your participants should reflect your target audience" (page 16). Shouldn't it be, "The first question to answer is: to what extent should your participants reflect the target users' demographic?"

Outstanding Features:

* Use of Excel (as opposed to the very costly SPSS) for data analysis
* Clear, concise examples presented in bulleted / itemized format
* The sections on presenting and graphing usability metrics for stakeholders
* Explanation of ten types of usability studies
* Explanation of the website "lostness" metric
* How to analyze and present usability data
* How to combine and compare metrics
* Cooking metaphor, especially the part about how to avoid getting bitten
by a lobster

Not-so-great features:

* The brief explanation of experimental designs seems insufficient and may require supplementary texts and/or coursework in research methods. Also, the book cannot be used as a paperweight in case of a tornado.

Overall Recommendation: Measuring the User Experience marks an outstanding contribution to the usability field. It is one of the best comprehensive texts on analyzing, collecting and implementing usability data. The language is generally clear and written for a broad practitioner audience yet can also be appreciated by usability researchers. Everyone who does usability should have a copy of this text.

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Human-Computer Interaction

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Human-Computer Interaction > Interface Design
Human-Computer Interaction > Usability