Towards a Valid Design for Pretesting and Revising Leaflets
Menno D.T. de Jong, P.J. Schellens · 1994
To what extent and how can pretesting (or: usability testing) contribute to the effectiveness and quality of (public information) leaflets? Of the many possible pre-test methods the plus-minus method is highlighted. Two kinds of research are carried out. The first kind of research focuses on the (predictive) validity of the plus-minus method. Roughly speaking, the quality of the original version of a leaflet is compared with the quality of a version that is revised on the basis of the pretest results. So far the research - with two leaflets - has yielded some evidence of the validity of the plus-minus method as a useful tool in the design process of leaflets. The second kind of research focuses on revising on the basis of pretest results. Therefore an analysis is made of our own revision proposals and their effects in the validation studies. So far, the preliminary conclusion can be drawn that revising on the basis of the comment of one subject is essentially right with regard to comprehension problems, but rather risky with regard to appreciation problems.