tool description
The constructive interaction is a method based on the observation of a user during his service experience.
The user is asked to think out loud while performing a given set of tasks, so that the evaluators could listen to and record his thoughts.
If this kind of evaluation takes place with two users interacting with the system simultaneously, the inspectors could obtain a more natural way of thinking aloud and more effective results.
References:
(2005) Benedikte S. Als, Janne J. Jensen, Mikael B. Skov, Comparison of Think-aloud and Constructive Interaction in Usability Testing with Children, Proceedings of the 2005 conference on Interaction design and children, Boulder, Colorado
(2004) MJ Van den Haak, PJ Schellens, Employing think-aloud protocols and constructive interaction to test the usability of online library catalogues: a methodological comparison, in Interacting with Computers, Vol. 16, No. 6.
Related
HAPPY MAIL, IMPROVING THE ELDERLY HOME EXPERIENCE
Happy mail is a project of a device that allows the friends and family of the elderly to contact them easily through SMS messages and email. After the first exploration of possible solutions, some ideas were selected and mapped out in user scenarios in order to test them and gain feedbacks from the elderly.
The tests have been done through a simple paper prototype of the device; the elderly could interact with the device with the support of the designers, who used the test for recording their thoughts and perceptions.