Measuring Impact: How to Test Your Writing

Ann Persson, of Pearson Education, tackles the topic of measuring the effect of content.

UX writing and UX research is a match. Do we need language testing? In usability testing, people talk about the language, even when it's not being explicitly tested.

Worked to understand if UI text was being tested, and how if could be. A test determined issues to address, such as the use of internal terminology. Found there was a strong need for UI text guidelines. Concluded that a need was for getting explicit feedback on UI text.

There are several research methods.

Heuristic evaluation. Perhaps most expensive. But also should be at forefront of mind, especially when entering usability sessions. Take screenshots, use checklist of heuristics. Use 3-5 people top conduct evaluation to help combat bias.

RITE (rapid iterative testing & design) is an "agile" method. Iterative changes to prototypes over the course of a testing sessions.

Sentence completion method, asking users to complete sentences. A way to capture insights of language interaction.

Product reaction cards are a way to measure emotional reactions to design.

A/B testing is a way to compare ways of messaging. The distinctions are usually minimal. If you make the distinctions too large, you lose what you're trying to measure.

What people do and what people say are always different. Small scale studies can look at how attitudes affect behavior.