The Digital Experience Group at the New York Public Library recently launched Infomaki, a “rapid-testing usability research laboratory” (check it out here). What does that mean you might ask? Well, here you go…
It’s not groundbreaking technology. Built on a Rails back-end (my rapid-prototyping framework of choice), it currently supports two kinds of tests: standard multiple choice (with optional “Other:” box) and a “Where would you click…?” screenshot (see image above) that records click locations. But it’s a bit different from the other tools mentioned above in that:
1. Each question is free-standing
2. The user can answer as many or as few questions as they want
3. It’s incredibly easy for the team to insert questions immediatelyThe main idea is to have a pool of dozens of independent questions available at any given time, from which a respondent will see a random selection.
I was presented with that very choice (pictured above) and answered not one but seven questions about their site. Not bad, eh? Granted, I’m someone who finds great satisfaction from rating countless Netflix movies with the hope of it someday knowing exactly how I feel about a movie before I even have a chance to think about it.
Anyway, i think there’s something to this new trend of quick hit usability testing rather than hitting people with a “Do you have 10 minutes to spare to answer questions about our site?” surveys. With this approach, people might end up spending 15 minutes helping you and they won’t even know it.
