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Before I get too many suggestions to implement
usability testing...
We do perform some usability testing, in the form
of beta testing. And of course, beta testing has
revealed that our documentation (before I started)
did not provide enough detail, and assumed that
the users already knew how to use the product,
which led to some harsh reviews.
Okay. I don't think the company will support even
a small test for usability alone. It would have to
be tied in to a QA evaluation somehow. I am
currently working relatively independently and in
teams with various developers. I have been told
that a stronger alliance with QA might be an idea.
So, has anyone specifically used a QA alliance
to perform usability testing? Should usability
testing be bundled in with beta testing?
I am hoping that a revised style will mean that we
*can* concentrate on usability testing, ie. lets get
past the fact that so-and-so doesn't like sentences
and find out whether the documentation is clear
and helpful.
Cheers,
Rowena
---------------------
Rowena Hart
Technical Writer
Intrinsyc Software, Inc. http://www.intrinsyc.com
