Example labs
Thirty one usability labs from all over the world, all recently built and in active use, take you on a photographic tour and show you how they designed their rooms, what equipment they use, and which software tools are used for data collection and analysis. The usability lab photo gallery covers a wide range of application domains, organizations and technology: from desktop software to mobile applications, from healthcare to military systems, from consumer electronics to office hardware, from focus groups and qualitative testing to physiological measurements and eye tracking, from corporate to educational facilities, from stationary to portable labs. Enjoy the tours!
GameLab Hohenheim
The Hohenheim GameLab at the chair of communication studies (interactive media and online communication) is part of the European Research Council (ERC) project, The Social Foundations of Online Gaming (SOFOGA). The Hohenheim GameLab employs a multi-method approach to study the behavior of, and the interaction between computer and video game players. It enables observations of natural gaming situations, as well as the creation of experimental conditions. The different set-ups in the GameLab make it possible to study different forms of single- and multiplayer gaming (co-located, online, local network).
IBBT Game Experience Lab, Ghent, Belgium
The game experience lab is situated in the Interdisciplinary Institute for Broadband Technology (IBBT), Ghent, Belgium. It is designed to facilitate research into user experiences with video games in different stages of their development cycle. The game experience lab is used to study and evaluate various aspects of the user-game interaction and serves as a playground for exploring and developing new methods for measuring user experiences in a non-obtrusive manner. Visit the website: http://www.ibbt.be.
Uppsala University
During conventional usability testing, the screen and either the face or the hands of the test person is recorded. Each recording is then analyzed with The Observer Video-Pro and predefined events and tasks are logged. For presentation purposes, video highlights are produced as MPEG-1 clips. In quantitative studies, summary statistics (task completion times, error rates) are exported to Excel and to proprietary software for hypothesis testing, mostly using re-sampling statistical methods. The lab is used for both teaching usability evaluation methods and for research.
University of Salzburg
At the ICT&S Center (Center for Advanced Studies and Research in Information and Communication Technologies & Society) a radically new Usability and Interface Experimental Lab has been established in 2005. There are various areas which can be used for usability study purposes:
Interactive Communication Lab
The user lab is equipped to perform multiplatform audits, such as PC's, Interactive TV, Mobile devices, Consoles, Information Points, Virtual Reality and Domotic Services to be evaluated.
During the test, tasks and events are logged. For presentations purpose, video highlights are produced as MPEG-1 clips. In quantitative studies, summary statistics (task completion times, error rates) are edited in Excel for hypothesis
testing.
University of Turku
Why we chose what we have? Well, we had a limited amount of money and we wanted to be able to carry out “traditional” usability tests of computer programs and mobile/PDA applications. So, we needed a video camera (conventional plus a wireless video camera), equipment for converting computer screen signal into video (scan converter), mixer for overlaying two video signals, a computer for storing the data and a program for analyzing the data.
University of Port Elizabeth
Our usability lab is one of the research facilities within the UPE Centre of Excellence. The laboratory is used to formally evaluate the usability of a wide variety of interactive systems.
The lab is outfitted with state of the art equipment supplied by Noldus Information Technology in December 2000. During a test, a recording is made of the user completing the required tasks and after the test, tasks and events are logged with The Observer Video-Pro. For presentations purposes, video highlights are produced as MPEG-1 clips. In quantitative studies, summary statistics (task completion times, error rates) are exported to Excel and next to Statistica for hypothesis testing.
IDEA Lab
The IDEA Lab is a teaching, research and consultancy facility of the University of Melbourne. It is a flexible state of the art usability lab and observation space. Situated a few minutes from Melbourne's central business district, the Lab is easily reached by various industry partners. In addition to viewing areas separated from four observation rooms by large one-way windows, the Lab's advanced equipment includes many movable wall mounted cameras and moving cameras, clear and powerful audio pick up, video mixing and multi-camera taping and PC screen capture to tape. Additional equipment is arranged for specific applications.
Used for many purposes including usability evaluation, participatory design and user needs analysis, this facility supports extensive research, teaching and consulting activities in the following primary areas:
Centre for Usability Research
The Usability Lab of the Centre for Usability Research (CUO) is located at the Mediacentrum, which is part of the faculty of Social Sciences of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. CUO is specialized in the evaluation of products, services and applications on their user friendliness and in the design of user interfaces. CUO takes into consideration the whole path from accessibility, utility, usability to likeability. The user always plays a central role in each phase of the development and evaluation process.
For this research CUO disposes of some unique usability labs that can be used in a controlled environment or in the natural environment of the user. CUO is one of the research groups in IBBT, the Interdisciplinary institute for BroadBand Technology, a research institute founded by the Flemish Government, focusing on information & communication technology (ICT) in general, and applications of broadband technology in particular.
University of British Columbia
The Institute for Computing, Information, and Cognitive Systems (ICICS) is a University of British Columbia interdisciplinary research institute fostering a human-centered paradigm shift in emerging information technologies. Over 135 faculty members from Applied Science, Science, Commerce, Arts, Dentistry, Education, Forestry, Medicine, and Pharmacy collaborate within ICICS.