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Why do we regularly transform our usability lab into a kitchen, hospital room, garage, bathroom, living room …. ?
(It’s not because we’re filming a movie.)

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These simulated environments are valuable for when we’re product usability testing during generative to mid-stage evaluative research. This is an early phase of <a href="https://www.delve.com/services/strategy/design-insights" target="_blank">user research</a> when clients are not yet ready to take products into the field, but insights can be drawn by observing how people interact with prototypes for different concepts.

<h2>Real Life Doesn’t Happen in a Conference Room</h2>
We’re big believers in testing early and often, and being able to quickly and easily set up these environments helps us execute that approach. This capability runs parallel to our ability to build low-fidelity prototypes quickly in our on-site workshop and lab — it requires many of the same skills and a similar process.
Our lab set-ups get started the same way as our prototypes, with copious sketches. Then we build and refine. We have the ability to be somewhat flexible to suit the needs of a particular project and are always looking for ways to expand our capabilities and environments.

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It’s easier to get in the mindset of being in a kitchen or bathroom when you’re in a room that looks like a kitchen or bathroom — as opposed to pretending to use a kitchen or bathroom product in the stale environment of a conference room. Simulated environments yield more unique responses and drive better conversations, which in turn elevate the insights we’re able to deliver to clients.

Too often, “simulated use” translates to a table with a few chairs and a sink, as opposed to a simulated use environment that truly represents a home or a medical environment.

Don't Miss: Medical Device Testing: Go As Far as Possible with a Simulated Use Environment

Here are some of our simulated environments, including a living room and a garage:

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A good example of how environment can affect research can be seen with something as simple as a stand-in sink. At a former job, one of my colleagues once helped set up a fake “sink” for a study by using a big white bowl and putting a piece of paper next to it that was printed with the word “sink.”
Repeatedly, participants wouldn’t wash their hands during the study even though they said they would definitely do so in real life (which had to be categorized as an artifact — something that only happened because of the study setting); they just didn’t think they had to reenact the action using this fake sink, or they didn’t realize it was a sink (despite it being introduced in the beginning of the study).
When they replaced it with a cheap plastic kids’ play sink, participants used it much more often than they did the bowl labeled “sink,” even though it wasn’t fancy and silver, or even realistic.
<h3>At Home: Testing Consumer Products</h3>
Our ability to set up simulated environments was useful when our interaction design team was looking for “quick and dirty” insights about a coffeemaker they were designing. They transformed the usability lab into a kitchen for a few days and brought in a handful of typical users to observe how they responded to their realistic, functioning prototype.
Here is how that study looked from the vantage point of our observation room, which has a two-way mirror so we can observe what’s happening in the lab:

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Our interaction designers asked people to access the countertop, shelves, and cabinets in the simulated kitchen to show where their coffeemakers currently live in their own kitchens. How far away is it on the counter, and if this coffeemaker was that far away, could they read the controls and labels? Could they easily remove the water reservoir? The designers were able to assess the interactions during use and the workflow, and to gauge factors including font, size, color, brightness, and distance.

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Utilizing this role to its fullest could minimize project risk and speed your product to market.

Don't Miss: A Chronically Underutilized Role in New Medical Device Development

Our designers used the information about where people place their coffeemakers and cross-referenced it against the users’ heights to graph ergonomic data such as arm reach and sight lines. (See the graph, above.) Says Bill Horan, our Creative Director, Interaction Design, “We got richer qualitative data and an opportunity to spark things we otherwise wouldn’t.”
Our interaction design team did a similar, “quick and dirty” study with a prototype for a blender, running participants through four or five button layout and design options. That device had a small screen, and they wanted to be sure people could read it from the desired distances.
<h2>At the Doctor’s Office: Testing Medical Products</h2>
Our environments skew toward residential and medical because many of the devices we work on are intended for these markets. With medical devices, representative environments are useful later in the design process when you’re seeking to assess how the actual product will be used in the actual use environment.

This is because the FDA requires that Human Factors Validation studies be conducted in representative use environments, since the environment can negatively impact use of the product. The goal is to ensure that the device being designed has either eliminated or reduced to the extent possible any use errors that may occur during use of the device.
<h2>At the Lab: Testing Versatility</h2>
While big companies that manufacture products for targeted audiences tend to have their own environments set up in-house, our lab is a great alternative for clients who don’t have their own facilities. It also comes in handy for us when we’re puzzling over a design detail and wishing for some quick, high-quality user feedback.
This article was written by Stuart Penman.

At Delve, we integrate human factors throughout the design process. This creates devices that are lower risk, cost less to develop, and are ultimately more human-centered.

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Learn more about our&nbsp;<a href="https://www.delve.com/services/engineering/human-factors-engineering" target="_blank">Human Factors Product Development Engineering Services</a>​​.

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2024 06 19 Usability Lab HERO

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The Case for Product Usability Testing in Simulated Environments

The Case for Product Usability Testing in Simulated Environments

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