Retrospective review and memory

One of my favorite radio programs (though I listen to it as a podcast) is Radiolab, “ a show about science,” which is a production of WNYC hosted by Robert Krulwich and Jad Abmurad and distributed by NPR. This show contemplates lots of interesting things from reason versus logic in decision making to laughter to lies and deception.

The show I listened to last night was about how memories are formed. Over time, several analogies have developed for human memory that seem to be related to the technology available at that time. Robert said he thinks of his memory as a filing cabinet. But Jad, who is somewhat younger than Robert, described his mind as a computer hard disk. Neurologists and cognitive scientists they talked to, though, said No, memory isn’t like that at all. In fact, we don’t store memories. We recreate them every time we think of them.

Huh, I thought. Knowing this has implications for user research. For example, there are several points at which usability testing relies on memory: the memory of the participant if we’re asking questions about the past behavior; the memory of the facilitator for taking notes, analyzing data, and drawing inferences; the memories of observers in discussions about what happened in sessions and what it means.

Using a think-aloud technique – getting participants to say what they’re thinking while working through a task – avoids some of this. You have a verbal protocol as “evidence.” If there’s disagreement about what happened among the team members, you can go back to the recording to review what the participant said as well as what they did.

But there are times when think-aloud is not the right technique, either because the participant cannot manage the divided attention of doing a task and talking about it at the same time, or because of other circumstances. In those situations, you might think about doing retrospective review, instead.

“Retrospective review” is just a fancy name for asking people to tell you what happened. If you have the tools and time available, you can go to a recording after a session, so the participant can see what she did and respond to that by giving you a play-by-play commentary.

As soon as participants start viewing or listening to the beginning of an episode – up to 48 hours after doing the task – they’ll remember having done it. They probably won’t be able to tell you how it ended. But they will be able to tell you what’s going to happen next.

And that’s the really useful thing about doing retrospective review. As the participant recreates the memory of the task, you can ask, “What happens next? What will you do next and why?” Pause. Listen. Take notes. And then start playing back the recording again. Sure enough, it’ll be like the participant said. Only now you know why.

Asking participants what happens next in their own stories also avoids most revisionist history. That is, if you ask participants to explain had what happened after they view it, they may rationalize what they did. This isn’t the same as remembering it.

Should you record sessions on video/audio?

The accepted practice for professional usability practitioners has been since the beginning of time to record sessions on video. It is something that we tend to do automatically.

There aren’t many obstacles to recording sessions these days. It really only takes a web camera and some relatively inexpensive recording software on the testing PC. (Of course, this assumes that you’re testing software or web sites that run on desktop or laptop computers.)

Recording is inexpensive
The software is pretty easy to use and it doesn’t cause issues with response times or otherwise fool with the user’s experience of using the software or website you’re testing. You get nice, bright colors, picture-in-picture, and you can capture it all digitally. For example, there’s Morae, by TechSmith. (In the interest of full disclosure: I own a license, and I have upgraded to the new version). With Morae, you can capture all sorts of nerdy bits. It’s a good tool.

Even if you decide to use a regular video camera rather than a web cam, or multiple cameras, that technology is cheaper and more accessible all the time. Storage media also is very inexpensive.


But should you record sessions?

Karl Fast on Boxes and Arrows (from August 2002) has a whole treatise on recording usability test sessions: http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/recording_screen_activity_during_usability_testing. He called it “crucial.” I say Not.

Know why you’re recording
You may want the video recordings for reviewing, or sharing with a research partner. You may want your boss to sit down and watch the recorded sessions as evidence. Most practitioners will say that they use video recordings as backup to notes. You could go back and review the recordings.

Most usability tests have fairly few participants. Say you’re doing a study with 5 to 8 participants. If your notes from so few sessions don’t help you analyze the data, you should work on making better data collection tools for yourself or make it a practice to write notes about what happened immediately following each session. Reviewing recordings is making work for yourself.

But do you actually review the recordings? Rarely. And do people who could not attend the sessions review the recordings later? Again, rarely.

Know how you’re storing recordings and control access to protect the privacy of participants
And let’s consider participant privacy and confidentiality. Digital recordings are easier than ever to manage and archive. However, the longer the recordings hang around your company, the more likely it is that they will a) get lost, b) fall into the wrong hands, or c) be misused in some way. A client once asked me if her company could review a tape of a participant because he was coming in for a job interview. I said absolutely not.

You ask participants to sign a recording waiver that sets out specific purposes of the recording. Someone has to make sure that the waiver is respected. That person is the usability specialist who recorded the session to begin with.

Manage recordings carefully
The form that you ask study participants to sign asking for their permission to record, you should also state in plain language

  • How the recording will be used
  • Who will use the recording
  • How long you (or your company) will store the recording
  • How the recording will be destroyed

But get it approved by your legal department, of course.

There are some good reasons to record sessions on video. There are a lot of good reasons not to. Should you?