CUO > Labs
Usability Labs
The CUO has several usability labs, suited for usability research on different applications in different contexts at different stages of the design process. Below you can find descriptions of these usability labs, explaining what they consist of, and for what research they are most suited.
CUO offers the possibility to companies to rent these labs (more information about rental of our usability labs).
Stationary Usability Lab
The stationary usability lab is suitable to research the usability of computer and television based applications in a strictly controlled environment.
The stationary usability lab exists out of an observation room and a control room, separated by a one-way mirror. The control room contains of a computer with “The Observer” software on it, which helps the researcher to make notes and analyse the collected data. It also contains a DVD-writer that saves all the recorded video images. The images from the test users computer screen are registered onto the control computer, together with the images of the 3 Dome cameras that are located in the observation room and can be moved via the remote control. There are different monitors for the researchers so they can look at the different images from the cameras and computer and decide which will be recorded in the video mix. The researcher can communicate with the test users via an intercom.
The observation room has been partly decorated as a normal living room, with a television area and partly as an office/home computer area where computer and office applications can be tested. The living room contains several domestic appliances like interactive television (Telenet and Belgacom), game consoles (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii), Windows Media Center, etc. The computer in the office environment has a fast internet connection and a dvd-player.
Klik op onderstaande afbeelding voor een
360° view van de controleruimte
(opgepast: kan even duren om in te laden)
Klik op onderstaande afbeelding voor een
360° view van de observatieruimte
(opgepast: kan even duren om in te laden)
Eye tracking facilities
In the stationary usability lab, the Tobii x120 eye tracking system can be used to record the eye movement of users while they use applications as diverse as websites, advertisements, interactive television, mobile devices or even while reading on normal paper. The Tobii x120 is a free-standing camera that works out the eye fixations and gaze paths contact-free, which means the users are not burdened. The accompanying software allows extensive evaluation of the observations with several visualization methods such hot spots, gaze replays and gaze plots.
Eye tracking research is especially useful when exploring specific elements in a user interface or on paper, and track what parts draw most attention, which parts are overlooked and in which order the user explores the application or printed text/images.
Portable Usability Lab
The portable usability lab is suitable for field research, where the usability of different applications can be researched in the natural (work) environment of the user. It is important to test a user in his natural environment, because often outside factors play a big role in how users use a certain application.
The portable usability lab consists of only one flight case. This case contains a laptop with Noldus The Observer software, a DV-camera with tripod to film the test users and their environment, an Epiphan screen capturing device to register the test users computer screen and a omni-directional microphone to record the test users statements (and an optional webcam for additional images).
With the help of the Noldus The Observer software, the researcher himself can determine which video images will be combined.
