©  2015  Brian  N.  Larson   Assignment:  Usability  assessment  report   Page  1  

Assignment:  Usability  assessment  report  This  assignment  page  includes  introductory  information,  a  list  of  readings  (if  any)  required  to  do  this  assignment,  instructions  for  doing  the  assignment,  and  grading  criteria.    References  to  “ABO”  are  to  Alred,  Brusaw,  and  Oliu  (2015).  

Introduction  Your  boss  at  Larson  Communications  (LC)  has  a  new  project  for  you  and  a  team  of  your  colleagues.  LC  has  a  new  client—Minneapolis-­‐based  Furnisimple,  Inc.—that  manufactures  low-­‐cost  furniture  similar  to  that  sold  by  IKEA,  the  Swedish  retailer.  Furnisimple’s  product  manager,  Candace  Nielsen,  likes  the  idea  of  providing  assembly  instructions  similar  to  those  that  come  with  IKEA  furniture.  (They  would  not  copy  IKEA’s  instructions,  of  course,  but  would  use  the  same  approach.)  Furnisimple’s  operations  director,  Erik  Hanson,  on  the  other  hand,  thinks  the  IKEA  instructions  are  frustrating  and  not  very  useful.  The  company’s  president,  Carla  Magnusson,  wants  to  know  whether  customers  would  find  IKEA-­‐style  instructions  useful,  and  she  has  hired  LC  to  figure  it  out.    A  couple  of  key  facts:  

• Ms.  Magnusson  is  quite  cost-­‐conscious,  so  this  project  has  a  limited  budget.  She  nevertheless  decided  to  hire  LC,  because  she  figured  internal  testing  would  be  difficult  with  Mr.  Hanson  and  Ms.  Nielsen  already  having  formed  opinions.  

• Furnisimple  has  retained  LC  to  perform  usability  testing  on  the  IKEA  assembly  instructions  for  one  product—a  bookshelf.  Larson  sold  them  on  the  fact  that  LC’s  technical  communication  teams  are  made  up  of  younger  folks,  a  significant  demographic  for  Furnisimple’s  products;  thus  the  decision  to  assign  this  project  to  your  team.  

• Ideally,  Magnusson  would  like  usability  testing  by  customers  from  other  cultures,  as  Furnisimple  is  hoping  to  compete  with  IKEA  in  other  countries.  Furnisimple  won’t  pay  for  that,  however,  so  Larson  has  said  that  the  report  should  have  a  section  that  addresses  ways  that  Furnisimple  might,  in  the  future,  conduct  usability  testing  addressing  the  needs  of  people  living  in  other  cultures.  

• Finally,  Furnisimple  expects  the  results  in  the  form  of  a  “formal  report.”  

Readings  for  this  assignment  Topic  sheets  to  read  (or  review  now):  

• Topic  sheet:  Group  work  • Topic  sheet:  Usability  principles  

 We  will  read  the  following  over  the  next  couple  weeks:  

• Topic  sheet:  Analytical  report  (later)  • Topic  sheet:  Interviewing  for  information  (later)  • Topic  sheet:  Think  aloud  protocols  (later)  • Topic  sheet:  Global  communication  (later)  

©  2015  Brian  N.  Larson   Assignment:  Usability  assessment  report   Page  2  

Assignment  description  Larson  has  directed  your  team  to  conduct  the  testing  and  write  the  formal  report.  He  wants  you  to  use  three  different  methods  for  collecting  the  usability  data.    

• Analysis  of  your  audience:  Do  your  best  to  analyze  Furnisimple  and  its  executives  as  your  audience  and  the  rhetorical  situation  in  which  they  have  placed  you.  This  should  guide  your  performance  of  the  assignment,  but  you  will  not  describe  this  analysis  in  your  report.  Given  this  “made-­‐up”  scenario,  you  may  have  to  guess  some  about  this,  but  we  will  also  discuss  in  class.  As  far  as  you  know,  LC  has  never  prepared  a  report  of  this  kind.    

• Report  format:  Based  on  the  readings  in  ABO,  prepare  a  Microsoft  Word  (or  PDF)  document  for  your  instructor  that  conforms  to  the  conventions  of  a  “formal  report.”  Larson  wants  a  report  format  very  much  like  ABO  figure  F-­‐5.    

• Report  contents  and  method  of  development:  You  get  the  sense  that  Larson  has  not  really  done  this  kind  of  work  before.  He  wants  you  to  identify  the  best  approach  for  preparing  this  report  by  the  client’s  deadline.  Larson  has  ideas  about  how  you  can  gather  the  necessary  usability  data,  but  he  says  he’ll  talk  with  you  about  that  in  the  next  few  days.  

Submission  instructions  • You  will  work  on  this  assignment  inside  and  outside  the  classroom  for  the  next  few  weeks  

with  your  group.  • Your  group  may  (optionally)  turn  in  a  draft  or  detailed  outline  of  the  report  by  the  date  

specified  on  the  course  schedule  to  receive  feedback  from  Larson  on  it.  • The  final  report  is  due  on  the  date  set  out  in  the  course  schedule.  • You  will  submit  it  as  an  MS  Word  document  or  a  PDF  file.  

Grading  criteria  • Report  uses  proper  format  as  laid  out  in  ABO  (adapted  based  on  your  discussions  for  this  

purpose).  • Report  has  strong  organization,  with  clearly  articulated  subject  and  purpose  and  clear  

address  of  audience  (in  this  case,  Furnisimple  executives).  • Report  fully  covers  the  items  described  above.  • Report  is  free  from  grammatical  and  mechanical  errors.  • See  the  syllabus  for  general  grading  principles.  

Value  toward  final  course  grade  15%.  This  assignment  is  not  subject  to  an  opportunity  to  revise.  Do  your  best  work  by  the  submission  date.  

Works  cited  Alred,  G.  J.,  Brusaw,  C.  T.,  &  Oliu,  W.  E.  (2015).  Handbook  of  Technical  Writing  (11th  edition).  

Boston:  Bedford/St.  Martin’s.