Usability Tools Podcast: Statistical Significance
UIE Usability Tools Podcast: Statistical Significance
Recorded: October 19th, 2007 from the studios of UIE
Brian Christiansen, UIE Podcast Producer
Duration: 26 min | File size: 15.5 MB
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Each week in our Usability Tools Podcast, I will be sitting down with UIE’s Managing Director, Christine Perfetti to discuss tips and tools for improving your site’s user experience. The goal of our weekly podcast is to share some of the most important findings from UIE’s research on web design and usability.
This week, Christine was tied up getting ready for our upcoming UI12 conference, so Brian Christiansen joins me for a show whose topic came from our reader, Colin. He wrote in to ask about the statistical significance of usability or field tests.
Statistical significance revolves around having enough participants to make your findings valid. However, the number of participants necessary can vary widely, depending on what you’re studying and how.
During the podcast, Brian and I answered these common questions:
» Many people talk about statistical significance, but what does it really mean?
» How many people does it take to produce reliable results?
» Why do usability tests require many fewer participants than surveys?
» How do we know we’ve gathered enough data from our research?
As always, we’re very interested in hearing from you. Do you have questions or comments about this episode? We’d love to create a show based on your questions, just like we did with this episode. Please leave a comment below or email us directly at [email protected].
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