The Impact of Usability Testing on NESDIS Products and Services

NOAA’s National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) continues to develop means of engaging the end users of our data products and services to inform observing and ground system decisions. The NESDIS Office of Systems Architecture and Engineering (SAE) is implementing usability testing to collect information that will help align customer experiences with federal mandates, and improve the overall customer experience. Usability testing is done by actual users, who through this process are able to identify and communicate problems in the design of a product or service early in development.

The implementation of a usability resting platform is helping NESDIS collect insights, findings, and anecdotes about how actual users use a product or service. Identifying problems in products and services early in development can reduce costly fixes after deployment and lower impact to the schedule.

This session will focus on the importance of usability testing, the different types of user tests conducted in NESDIS, and how to recruit participants.