The benefits of laboratory testing for usability
Lovie A. Melkus · 1985
The use of a usability test laboratory for software products can directly affect products. Error messages, instructions, panel design, and system flow can all be improved when system developers are able to observe users interacting with software products, attempting to solve real-world problems with a system in the process of development. Furthermore, the use of a usability laboratory can have, in addition to this direct effect on the quality of a particular software system, can have a less direct (but perhaps more powerful) impact on procedures within the development organization. Usability testing can raise the level of human factors awareness among developers, while providing an objective arena in which programmers, writers, human factors specialists, and other support personnel can evaluate the usability of application software.