skip navigation
Go to Foraker Design
Usability First
Your Online Guide to Usability Resources
Home
Resources
Intro to Usability
Courses
Books
Humor
Links
Methods
Glossary
Search
Categories
A-Z Index
Submit a Term
Job Postings
Applications
Website Design
Usability ROI
Accessibility
Groupware
Consulting
Site Tools
Site Map
About Us
Feedback
Foraker Design Foraker
Design

Usability Glossary: comparative study


a study whose purpose is to compare 2 or more products, such as a user testing comparison to make sure that a new version of a product has fewer problems than the prior version. Another type of comparison is a competitive analysis to see which of 2 products is superior.

A comparative study might best be considered in contrast to a criterion test, where a single product is tested against some absolute criteria of usability. For instance, a criterion test might be used to confirm that "a user can start up this application in 10 seconds or less", whereas a comparison might show that "version 3 of this software starts up 50% faster than version 2".

see also

competitive analysis
competitive user testing

categories

Glossary Categories > Usability Methods > Usability Evaluation

© 2002-2005 Foraker Design - Provider of Usability & Web Design Services Foraker Design