United States Department of Veterans Affairs

National Center for Patient Safety

Usability Exercise

Usability Testing

Use of scripted version for usability testing exercise is optional. Basic verbal instructions also work well to illustate the value of usability testing and to provoke evaluation of medical devices and equipment.

Part I

  1. Have ready to hand out:
    • juice pouches and/or
    • moist wipes and/or
    • Smints or PEZ and/or
    • Other everyday items with usability issues
  2. Assign one person as usability test director whose duty it is to:
    • Remind participant to think aloud
    • Lead subsequent discussion
  3. Assign one person as participant - to use the device/object "in the way you think it should be used"
  4. Assign 1-2 observers to record
    • actions
    • comments
    • swear words
    • facial expressions of the person using the device/object
  5. Ask students to
    • Summarize HFE issues
    • Summarize re-design ideas

Part II

  1. Provide a collection of medical devices for "hands-on" exploration
  2. Ask students to identify a medical device or piece of equipment that is correlate to some of the findings of the usability test (Part I).


Individual directions:

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