OpenVULab 0.1 now available

[Ron Owston]

Hi All,
Most of you have heard of OpenVULab but we haven't been very visible so
far in Fluid. But that is about to change as OpenVULab 0.1 is now uploaded
into svn and available to download. A live working version is also
available on a temporary server at http://VULab.silkwire.com. In the near
future this will move over to http://VULab.yorku.ca. 

You can create an account at the server as a “researcher” and another as a
“tester”. Log in with the researcher account and create a “project.” A
project consists of a pre and post session survey and a url for the site
you want to test. Once you create the surveys and add a url you can assign
your tester ID to that project. Log out and log in with your tester
account. You should see your pre-session survey, and when you complete it,
you are prompted to go to the site that is to be tested. When you navigate
the site all interactions will be recorded, however the recording module
is not yet completed. After you finish navigating the site you can return
to the post-session survey. If you wish you can log in again as a
researcher and view your survey results (and soon your recording).

The user interface is still quite rough but we are working on it. At this
point we invite your comments and suggestions on the interface as our goal
is to make OpenVULab exemplary. Once we have version 1.0 released we will
be seeking your input on features to be added in future releases.

The Fluid wiki contains more information about OpenVULab and is available
here:
http://wiki.fluidproject.org/display/fluid/Open+Virtual+Usability+Lab.
Also see the description below for an overview.

Ron Owston
David Makalsky


What is VULab?
============

VULab is tool designed for remote usability research. A unique feature of
VULab is that it can record video and audio of remote users' interactions
with their computer without the need to install an application on their
computer. When users log into VULab they are presented with a series of
pre-session questions set up by the researcher. After answering these
questions, users are directed to the web site or application being studied
and recording begins. Users then navigate the site according to protocols
established by the researcher and they may be asked to talk aloud about
why they are making particular choices. At the end of the session the
recording is stopped and they are prompted to answer post-experience
questions set up by the researcher. Users' pre- and post-session questions
and videos are stored in a relational database on the VULab server that
can be queried by the researcher and analyzed. 

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