[an error occurred while processing this directive]

Defining concerns and goals.

Defining concerns and goals makes the rest of the planning much easier.
Everything else in the plan stems from what you want to learn.
Searching for specific deficiencies, flaws or problems gives the test focus.
- It avoids the tendency to find whatever results you would like to find.

Concerns.

A concern is a question about the usability of the site. e.g. can people find needed information quickly and easily?
Possible concern areas.
- Concerns from critical tasks.
- Concerns from known problems.
- Concerns from previously dislikes expressed about the old site.
  Things people hate about the old site that should be fixed in the redesign.
- Concerns from previously likes expressed about the old site.
  Things people really love about the old site and shouldn't be lost in the redesign.
Move from general concerns to specific ones.
- Go from "can people find information on the web site quickly and easily?"
- To "can a person find the undergrad admission form quickly and easily?"
Possible sources of test concerns.
- Previous inquires, inspections and tests.
- The CWC.
Establish concerns of the site to test.
Make choices among concerns. (Can't test everything.)

Goals.

A goal is a declarative statement resulting from a question of concern.
A goal establishes an objective to measure. (See the section on measures for more information)
- Quantitative example:
  "User will find the undergrad admission form within 30 seconds."
- Qualitative example:
  "User will rank the ease of finding the form with at least a 7 on a 10 point scale."

© 1998-2024 Laura L. Carlson
Email: lcarlson@d.umn.edu
Department: Information Technology Systems and Services, University of Minnesota Duluth
Document Last Modified: 2002
Page URL: http:// www.d.umn.edu /~lcarlson/testing/planning/goals.html

The views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the page author. The contents of this page have not been reviewed or approved by the University of Minnesota.