This past month, inspired by the writings of user experience guru Whitney Hess, RI.gov set about doing some real-world user testing. After settling on two area Providence coffee shops, we drafted a set of ten questions / tasks for users to complete. Results were captured using the fabulous Silverback application on a laptop.

Back at the RI.gov ranch, results were informally tabulated into a brief summary for the rest of the team to review. Several weeks later, I couldn’t be happier with the results. We now have a great list of things we can improve, both in the short and long term. To learn more about our testing sessions, get in touch with us, and watch this space as we post more on this in the future.