Moderator Script
Welcome the participant
Hello. My name is Ivan, and I am a student at Fort Hays State University. How is your day going so far? Did you find your way around YouTube?
State the purpose of the study
First, I want to thank you for participating in this study. I understand that your time is valuable, and I hope you will find this experience enjoyable. We are conducting a usability test of a website called YouTube. For the next 45 minutes, we are going to spend time together to get your impressions of this website. Keep in mind that we are the ones testing this website, not you. We are going to ask you to complete a series of tasks that match goals typical users like yourself might have when using this website. We are focusing on how you do things, where you look, etc. We are interested in knowing what you are thinking and how you react to things on YouTube instead of what you are doing.
Describe thinking out loud
Before we start, we need you to keep in mind one important thing, we need you to “think out loud”. Like when you are doing something by yourself and you may get frustrated or confused, and you think in your head, “What is going on” or “what am I looking for”. This is what I need you to do. I want you to perform a task and instead of thinking it, I want you to say it out loud and walk us through what you just did. I know it might sound a little out of the ordinary, but you will get used to it as we go on. This will help us understand what goes in your mind while you are using YouTube. If you find something interesting, I want to know that. Even if you get frustrated or confused, I want to know that too. I won’t know anything unless you are willing to tell us so, please speak up what is on your mind freely. There is not right or wrong answers in this usability test. I am looking for your genuine impressions. I will be watching you complete tasks and take notes so that we can report my findings to YouTube and they will use my findings to improve their website in the future.
Provide the forms required for participation
Before we get started with the testing, I know I said this when I recruited you for this study, but I want to make sure I have your consent to videotape you during this session. Do I have your consent to videotape you during this session? (If yes, proceed.) Also, I want you for fill out a pretest questionnaire. We just want to get your input, know what you are expecting, your previous experiences, etc. I will read aloud the questions to you and just answer them honestly. I do have somebody logging these answers. (This is where you read the pretest questionnaire to the user and record the answers.)
Describe the room
I want to you take a moment to describe the room to you. You will use your computer to test YouTube and you will screen share your end. You can YouTube access in any browser you want. The choice is up to you. I will be screen recording this session on my end.
Explain the process
Explain the testing process We are going to give you several tasks to complete. Each task will have a specific goal and I want you to explore YouTube and complete each task. You should not need any certain login credentials or anything. You will accomplish each task in a way that makes sense to you. While you are using the website, I will just be observing on my end. It will also help a lot if you tell me where your eyes go or what you are looking since I do not have any type of equipment to track eye movement. I will be with you every step of the way. After you complete each task, we will talk about your experience, how you felt while completing the task, and so on. Go through the tasks and complete each one the best way you can.
Ask the participant to share any questions or concerns
So, before we get started, do you have any questions or concerns?
Start the Study
Great, then we can begin. Let me know when you are ready for me to read you task #1. Ok, here is task #1 and please let me know if you have any questions. (This is where you read the task out loud and start the study).