To Test And To Analyze

     1.  My goal of using a usability test is to check whether the instructional guide is effective in teaching the readers to merge/split pdf files using PDF-XChange Tools 4.0.  When I say effective, I mean if the instructional guide is easy to comprehend and accomplish.  The instructional guide will act as a tutorial so the use of practice files will help aid readers to accomplish the task of successfully merging and/or splitting pdf files.  The feature which I am not unsure about is how files are being dragged to and fro between files.  The feature lacks a preview so that users can see what page is what.  This is a hindrance which the users could produce the wrong product.  Contributing with images taken from the computer can help aid this.  The use of before and after images will help aid those wanting to produce the right file(s).

     2.  The intended audience is for those who share documents using PDF files whether for personal, educational, or occupational (work business) purposes.  Three people will be tested.  Two are co-workers while the other is someone whose in college.

     3.  The type of test best suited for this instructional guide is the performance tests.  I could keep track in areas which the readers have struggle with.  This in turn will allow me to make improvements on specific procedures.  Understandability tests is second best suited.  It is designed to test whether readers understand the procedures.  This heavily focuses on whether the procedures and images are clear for the readers.  This is a problem.  The instructional guide is not about whether readers could understand the materials, but whether readers could produce the final product.  The location tests is the least useful kind of test.  It evaluates the overall content of the instructional guide.  That is if the organization of the tutorial makes complete sense to the reader.  It is one thing to organize the structure; however, what makes sense to one person may not make sense to another.  Different people read and comprehend things differently.  Again, we are testing whether readers could successfully accomplish the task not how well organized the guide is.      

• Scope: The scope is to test out how effective the instructional guide to "How to Merge/Split PDF Files Using PDF-XChange Tools 4.0".  That is if it's easy to comprehend and follow, if troubleshooter can help readers fix an issue, and if providing sample pdf files does in fact help majority of readers follow along.   
• Purpose: 
• Questions:
• Will the readers able to identify solutions to issues they will experience?
• Is PDF-XChange Tools 4.0 user friendly like other programs out there?
• How long will it take to accomplish a task using this instructional guide?
• Especially if readers are dealing with large pdf files of their own with many pages 
• Schedule & Location: Testing will be held at my work and home.
• Sessions: Sessions will be on their own free time.  They will give me feedback as to how effective the instructional guide once accomplished.
• Equipment: Desktop computers will be used for the test, along with the sample pdf files to help them follow along.  Windows 7 Professional is the common processor here.  The program being used is PDF-XChange Tools 4.0. 
• Participants: Three users at work will be tested.  Two will be co-workers and the other is a student.  
• Scenarios: There are two tasks to accomplish.  One task will ask users to merge two different pdf files into one file with numbers in chronological order (1-10).  The other task will ask users to split that merged files into two different files (one for the even numbers and other for odd numbers).
• Metrics: The following will be asked:
• What did you get from the introduction?
• Did the introduction help give you the basic knowledge as to why some techniques are risky/time consuming?  Yes/No/Unable to Answer  
• On a scale from 1-5 (1 being very easy and 5 being very hard):  Overall, how easy was it to follow the tasks given? 
• Did the images help contribute to your understanding of the procedure?  Yes/No/Unable to Answer 
• Did the practice pdf files help you to follow along?  Yes/No/Unable to answer
• On a scale from 1-5 (1 being very helpful and 5 being not helpful):  How helpful was the troubleshoot?
• A comment box will be included but not recommended.
• This will allow readers to give any incite to what changes they would like to see or opinions they have have 
• Roles: I will take role as the note-taker, performance checker, and reviewer.