despiertos

Orlando - Chris Spheeris (Europa)

It’s been a while since i wrote about my job, but here we go again…

This week i’ve been testing a website for young people (target under 25 years old) and i would like to share an opinion about users. When I meet them, i like to shake hands, no matter if the user is a man or a woman.

In a qualitative test one of the most important things is the “thinking aloud” protocol. It’s essential that the user talks a lot, they must explain everything, so we can get as much information as we can. As you can imagine, there are “good” users that do not have any problems and they comment on everything, but there are also these “bad” users that remain silent during all the test and you have to remind every now and then that they must think aloud (yes, we asume they think). Obviously this forces the situation and it can be very violent for the user.

Believe it or not, when a user shakes my hand, even without saying a word, I can tell what kind of user he or she will be. If it’s a strong handsake, the user will probably be selfconfident, he/she will feel confotable and test the will run smoothly. On the other hand, if it’s a weak shakehand (you know, the “dead fish”), well, probably I’ll be facing a difficult user…

Oh, and for the record, keep in mind that a women is supposed to offer her hand first. Remember this and be polite! Specially with users!