Usability testing on 10 cents a day : (Chapter 9 only)

As soon as I hear “launching in two weeks” (or even “two months”) and “usability testing” in the same sentence, I start to get that old fireman-headed-into-the-burningchemical-factory feeling, because I have a pretty good idea of what’s going on. If it’s two weeks, then it’s almost certainly a request for a disaster check. The launch is fast approaching and everyone’s getting nervous, and someone finally says, “Maybe we better do some usability testing.” If it’s two months, then odds are that what they want is to settle some ongoing internal debates—usually about something very specific like color schemes. Opinion around the oªce is split between two different designs; some people like the sexy one, some like the elegant one. Finally someone with enough clout to authorize the expense gets tired of the arguing and says, “All right, let’s get some testing done to settle this.”