Think aloud protocol

In a Thinking Aloud Test is a psychological experiment that allows to determine the usability of a user interface.

This is a team of usability experts, one or more probable target groups and committed from each target group 4-5 test users. The test users are usually placed individually before an interactive test system on which they are to solve some typical tasks. They are filmed and asked think with loud ( hence the name Thinking Aloud Test).

In the test system, it must at least be an interactive prototype, which does not, however, must be fully implemented, but it can interactivity also be achieved, in which a member of the usability expert teams " painted " according cardboard cards are placed on a table.

The insights gained from this experiment are almost exclusively subjective impressions of the test users. It is not possible to determine within a thinking aloud test the efficiency of the test system, as the delays that causes the loud thinking along these influences incalculable.

A big problem with a Thinking -aloud test is that many test users silenced with time, since they are not used to anything they think to comment. To prevent this phenomenon, one can set, for example, two testers simultaneously on a system whereby the flow of conversation is maintained.