The User-reported Critical Incident Method at a Glance

The over-arching goal of this work is to discuss the user-reported critical incident method, a costeffective remote usability evaluation method for real-world applications involving real users, doing real tasks in real work environments. Several methods have been developed for conducting usability evaluation without direct observation of a user by an evaluator. However, contrary to the user-reported critical incident method, none of the existing remote evaluation methods (nor even traditional laboratory-based evaluation) meets all the following criteria: • data are centered around critical incidents that occur during task performance, • tasks are performed by real users, • users are located in normal working environment, • users self-report own critical incidents, • data are captured in day-to-day task situations, • no direct interaction is needed between user and evaluator during an evaluation session, • there is a cost-effective way to capture data, and • data are high quality and therefore relatively easy to convert into usability problems. * This paper is based on the fourth chapter of the thesis work by Castillo (1997). The User-Reported Critical Incident Method at a Glance 2