Usability Activity Log

The Easiest Way to Document Observational Data

What is usability?  Use-a-ble  (yoo’ze-bul),  us’a-bil’i-ty, us’a-bly.  1: Capable of being used.  2: In a fit condition for use; intact and operative.

The usability of any system, whether it be software or a hardware design, is very important.  Specifically, if a software product isn't easily learned and used by its target audience, it will fail.  Some of the largest companies in the industry that design systems have integrated usability testing into their development processes, and by doing so, they have increased end user productivity, reduced training and support costs, and improved overall employee satisfaction.

Usability testing can involve a wide-variety of methods and instrumentation.  It usually implies relatively unobtrusive observation of task performance, often with video taping to capture the nuances of users' interactions with the product under evaluation.  Observational data is documented, preferably with time stamps that correspond to a video recorder in real-time.  Performance data may include the incidence of various usability problems, user habits and posture, user errors, or the time that it takes the user to respond to specific task-relevant event.

This is where Usability Activity Log comes into play.  It offers an effective means to easily and unobtrusively document observational data and task performance.  The ease of use and low cost of Usability Activity Log provides the best alternative to other activity logging products which are expensive and often overly complex.  In fact, Usability Activity Log has been usability tested first time user can sit down in front of our product and begin using it effortlessly with minimal instruction.

Product Features

The simplistic approach Usability Activity Log uses makes it a necessary tool for  any corporate usability lab.  Some of the features of the product are as follows:

FINALLY, the features of the long awaited version v2.3 are here..

• Usability Activity Log is fully functional as a stand-alone package.  No additional add-on modules are required to get the full product functionality.
• Usability Activity Log operates in a networked environment allowing you to share activity logs with multiple workstations (a separate license is required for each workstation).
• All observational data is saved on the fly; requiring no user intervention.  There is no need to manually save, thus minimizing the risk of lost data.
• Observational data may be modified, marked, sorted or removed from the grid while you're working.
• You can assign your observational data categories to assist organization during focus groups.  System categories are provided or you may create your own.
• A word correct feature has been added assist you in correcting some of the most frequently misspelled words on the fly while you’re logging observational data.
• Usability Activity Log passively synchronizes all logging activity with video equipment.  The synchronization feature.
• An alarm system warns you that the tape timer is about to expire. You can set a primary and secondary warning.
• Observational data may now be exported to the following formats: Rich Text Format (RTF), Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), Microsoft Excel (XLS), and ascii text.

Click here to see additional screen shots.

Coming soon in version v2.4..

• Improved and more user friendly installation.
• Remote screen snapshots of the client workstation being evaluated.
• Programmable hotkeys.

Product Pricing

NEW LOWER PRICE Usability Activity Log Version v2.3 is currently available for US$49.99 per workstation.  If you are using Usability Activity Log in a shared network environment, you may be required to purchase licenses for additional workstations.

Usability Activity Log is SHAREWARE. That means you can use it for a trial period of 30 days for free. If after 30 days you find this product meets your needs you must purchase and license it in order to keep using it. Usability Activity Log can be downloaded by clicking the Download Now button to the right.

System Requirements

Minimum Hardware Requirements:
Pentium II 233Mhz or higher running Windows2000 or WindowsXP, 64MB RAM, and 5MB of hard disk space.

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR USERS OF OLDER OPERATING SYSTEMS
It is recommended for Windows NT 4.0 users to have applied the latest Service Pack to run this software.  If you are running Windows NT 4.0, your system may not be fully Y2K compliant unless you have installed Service Pack 4.  Usability Activity Log has NOT been and will not be tested on the Windows95, Windows98, Windows NT 4 or Windows NT 3.5x platforms.

Some of Our Satisfied Customers

Important Customer Disclaimer

Minnesota Environmental Protection Agency (St. Paul, MN):  The Minnesota state Environmental Protection Agency has been a registered user of Usability Activity Log since May 2003.