What is the basis of our assertions?”
Our methodology emphasises user interviews, task setting, and the observation of respondents while they are solving these problems. Based on the sum of our observations we are piecing together an illustration of interactions as if completing a jigsaw puzzle. Established Usability Principles (so-called ‘heuristics’) and experiences with similar systems form the background of our analysis. Since many participants show great difficulty in verbalising their intuition, mere interview data can be relied on only in exceptional cases. Apart from that, more than half of the participants, men in particular, are reluctant to admit their use problems. The method of not only questioning the respondents but also observing them directly is the only way to obtain certain valuable data.
