Introducing Asynchronous Remote Usability Testing in Practice: An Action Research Project

Asynchronous remote usability testing is a usability evaluation method where users and evaluators are separated both in time and space, and users are directly involved in producing the evaluation results. This paper reports from an action research project on introduction of asynchronous remote usability testing in the IT organization of a bank. The IT organization had extensive experience with traditional usability evaluation but was interested in introducing asynchronous remote usability testing into their repertoire of evaluation methods. The project was initiated with an intensive two-month collaboration followed by a six-month maturation phase. The process of introducing the method and the motivations of the IT organization for introducing the method are described in detail. The findings indicate that the conceptual understanding of usability evaluation and the engagement of the users are crucial for the outcome of the evaluation, and the tool and materials used for the evaluation was an obstacle for high-quality results.