Test instructions

Before you start

Thank you for taking part. We are testing some web pages, not you, so there are no right or wrong answers. Please say what you actually think, including anything you dislike or find confusing. Unfavourable comments are as useful to us as favourable ones.

Please talk out loud as you go: what you are looking at, what you are expecting, and what you are thinking. If something puzzles you, say so at the time rather than working it out silently.

You will be asked to enter some details into a form. Do not use your own personal information. Please use these details instead:

Anything else the form asks for you can answer however you like.

You are not being asked to finish any of the forms. Go through the first few steps of each one, then stop and move on to the next task. Please do not submit or send any of them.

Task 1 — The advert, before clicking

Task — do not click yet

Imagine you are thinking about buying a new BMW 3 Series and you have searched online for the price. Open Search results from the menu on the left.

On the right of the page there is an advert for Ask a Price. Please read it, but do not click it yet.

Questions

  1. In your own words, what is this advert offering?
  2. Who do you think has placed it?
  3. If you clicked it, what would you expect the next page to look like? Describe it to me.
  4. What would you expect that page to ask you to do?
  5. How long would you expect it to take?
  6. What would you expect to get at the end of it?

Task 2 — The page the advert leads to

Task

Now click the advert.

Before you do anything on the page, say what your first reactions are.

Questions, on arrival

  1. What do you notice first?
  2. What is this page asking you to do?
  3. How does it compare with what you were expecting? What is the same, and what is different?
  4. Who do you think is behind this page?
  5. What do you think would happen to the information you put in?
  6. How would you feel about entering your own details here, and what is making you feel that way?
  7. Is there anything you would want to know before going any further?

Now please start filling it in, as if you were doing this for real. Talk out loud as you go. Use the details you were given: TLAtest for both names, L3 9AG for the postcode and [email protected] for the email. Go through the first few steps, then stop.

Questions, after going through the first few steps

  1. How did that go?
  2. Was there anything you were unsure how to answer, or anything you had to stop and think about?
  3. Was there any point at which you would have given up, or considered it? What was happening at that point?
  4. How clear was it what you were being asked for, and why it was being asked?
  5. Overall, how easy or difficult was that to use? (1 very difficult – 7 very easy)

Task 3 — Version B

Task

Open Version B from the menu on the left.

Before you do anything, say what your first reactions are. Then start filling it in as if it were real, using the same details as before, and go through the first few steps. Then stop and answer the questions below.

Questions

  1. What do you notice first?
  2. What is this page asking you to do?
  3. How does it compare with what you were expecting when you looked at the advert? What is missing, if anything?
  4. Who do you think is behind this page?
  5. How would you feel about entering your own details here, and what is making you feel that way?
  6. What differences do you notice between this version and the last one you looked at?
  7. Was there anything you were unsure how to answer?
  8. Was there any point at which you would have given up, or considered it?
  9. Overall, how easy or difficult was that to use? (1 very difficult – 7 very easy)

Task 4 — Version C

Task

Now open Version C from the menu on the left.

Before you do anything, say what your first reactions are. Then start filling it in as if it were real, using the same details as before, and go through the first few steps. Then stop and answer the questions below.

Questions

  1. What do you notice first?
  2. What is this page asking you to do?
  3. How does it compare with what you were expecting when you looked at the advert? What is missing, if anything?
  4. Who do you think is behind this page?
  5. How would you feel about entering your own details here, and what is making you feel that way?
  6. What differences do you notice between this version and the last one you looked at?
  7. Was there anything you were unsure how to answer?
  8. Was there any point at which you would have given up, or considered it?
  9. Overall, how easy or difficult was that to use? (1 very difficult – 7 very easy)

Task 5 — Comparison

Task

Questions

  1. Thinking about all three versions, put them in order of which you would be most likely to fill in, and which least.
  2. What put the one at the top there?
  3. What put the one at the bottom there?
  4. Was there anything you liked in one that was missing from the others?
  5. If you could change one thing about the version at the top, what would it be?

Last questions

Task

Two last questions, about buying a car generally rather than about anything you have seen today.

Questions

  1. When you are choosing a new car, which three of these matter most to you? Please put your three in order.
  2. What worries you most about buying a new car?

That is everything. Thank you for your time.