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First Fridays Usability Testing Program

First Fridays Usability Testing Program (a.k.a. GSA First Fridays) is a usability testing and education program that focuses exclusively on federal government websites. We've tested more than 37 federal sites to date, including IRS, Census, USAJOBS, and the Department of Transportation. You can see the results of these tests on our Before and After Gallery.

How First Fridays Works

Types of Tests

How You Can Join In

Learn How to Facilitate Tests

First Fridays Toolkit

How First Fridays Works

First Fridays Usability Testing Program is a twice-monthly demonstration project aimed at teaching agency staff how to find and fix usability problems on government websites and applications. We test on the first Friday and third Wednesday of every month.

During a four-hour session, GSA asks three recruited participants to perform 35 minutes of tasks on the test website. Site stakeholders observe the participants doing the tasks from another room. After the test, the observers debrief over lunch and identify the three most serious problems and quick-fix solutions to be completed within 30 days. We send site stakeholders a short report and test recordings, and we follow up with them 2-3 weeks after the test. Agency employees may sign up for facilitator training.

First Fridays is based on "discount" usability testing supported by industry leaders, including Steve Krug in his latest book, Rocket Surgery Made Easy.

Types of Usability Services

First Fridays provides the following kinds of usability testing services:

  • Formal Tests—Day-long tests of a live or staged website, which include recruiting three test participants, creating tasks for them to accomplish. Observers will be in another room monitoring the test and taking notes.
  • Hallway Tests—Also known as "Quick Tests," these involve creating paper prototypes or printouts of a web page or pages, and getting feedback from a large group of people in a public space, usually at random.

Hallway Test

  • Mobile Tests—Tests of mobile-optimized sites on smartphones, and mobile applications from iTunes or Android. User behavior is recorded via a camera focusing on the device and the hands of the user. Like all our tests, observers are welcome.
  • Observe a Usability Test—The educational power of seeing a live test cannot be underestimated, especially if you don't have a close relationship with your customers. Come to our office and watch our tests to learn why usability is so important. You'll also have the opportunity to help improve the product we're evaluating. No special skills are needed.
  • Remote Observation—Want to see a usability test in action but can't make it to our office? Don't worry—every test can accommodate a few people who can observe the test online through GoToMeeting or Webex.
  • Expert Evaluation—Another way to improve usability is through an Expert Evaluation, also known as a Heuristic Evaluation. These involve evaluating a site in many important usability categories, including: navigation, identity, accessibility, content and design. Our staff will evaluate your site based on these criteria and deliver an Expert Evaluation Report (PDF, 93 KB, 3 pages, December 2012).

How to test a mobile device

How You Can Join In

We test every month, so there are lots of opportunities for you to check out one of our tests and see all the things you can learn. To offer your site, or to volunteer as a test participant or observer, contact First Fridays.

Learn How to Facilitate Tests

After you’ve had an opportunity to observe a First Fridays Usability test, come learn how to facilitate your own tests. We’re offering this unique training opportunity for you to learn how to offer this simple usability testing at your agency. The Facilitator-in-Training process takes about 3 months and includes four sessions of increasing responsibility in facilitating.

Format: Four sessions of facilitator training
Date: The first Friday of every month and the third Wednesday of every month
Time: Each session lasts from 8:00 am-1:30 pm (including time spent on pre-facilitation preparation)
Cost: Free
Prerequisite: Attend a First Fridays Test and participate in observation and debriefing

The Training Process:

  1. Watch in test room; be active observer during debrief; role-play facilitator
  2. Listen in on planning calls; learn to set up equipment; watch in test room; conduct 3rd participant test; be active observer during debrief
  3. Set up equipment; conduct 2nd or 3rd tests; be active observer during debrief
  4. Set up equipment; conduct all participant tests; manage debriefing; write Final Report
  5. Listen in on planning and post-test calls for their tests; join in monthly FF community calls

Read our Usability Facilitator-in-Training Program Packet (MS Word, 117 KB, 16 pages, December 2012) for more information.

Contact First Fridays to sign up for this training

First Fridays Toolkit

     Hallway Testing Resources

Resources and Publicity

 

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Content Lead: Jonathan Rubin
Page Reviewed/Updated: January 25, 2013

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