Pretesting Web Sites

Abstract

This study compares two methods of pretesting—the plus-minus method and the think-aloud method—with respect to their suitability for evaluating sites on the World Wide Web. These methods are often used for pretesting printed texts, but how appropriate are they for evaluating Web sites? The study compares the two methods with respect to the number of problems they detected, the nature of these problems, and the amount of feedback they yielded for revision. Participants using the plus-minus method detected a greater number of different types of problems than those using the think-aloud method, primarily because participants using the plus-minus method were more inclined to detect appreciation problems. Also, participants using the plus-minus method offered more suggestions about how to resolve the problems they had detected than those participants using the think-aloud method.