> Testing Mobile Apps On Drunks<p>I've done this before. Not a mobile app but a unit of hardware that is at bars (think those digital jukeboxes). During the final stages of testing we mounted one at a friend's place and set it to debug mode (so anything with a magnetic strip passed as being a valid credit card).<p>After a few hours of drinking and watching friends we uncovered some interesting usability concerns. The only problem was we never designated someone as a sober-recorder so the notes were almost entirely useless.
Interesting article and very relevant since I've been conducting bi-weekly usability testing sessions. I've had a lot of success using IamExec.com to find participants for one-hour loosely scripted sessions.<p>Some feedback:
It's hard to tell what's a link as the purple really blends in with the black.
The dichotomy between "newbie's" and non-newbie's is a bit of a turn-off and could have been more fluidly discussed.
Wouldn't completing a list of goals contradict "not ask leading questions"? Why not just give the app to the user and tell him/her to do his job with it? Instead of telling him what to do.<p>In the end, the app is supposed to help him accomplish what they want, not what you want them to do.