In this session we will introduce some low-tech methods for gaining valuable insight into the user experience layer of your Drupal projects. Oftentimes usability studies are ignored in the web development process, especially when time is tight or man/woman-power is low. Usability studies can actually help you save lots of time and money when done early and frequently, and they will also lead to better, more pleasant websites and happier clients.
We will also discuss the current usability study project we are working on for Drupal 7 along with the Drupal UX team. Drupal is notoriously criticized for being overly-complicated and difficult to learn. Usability studies are the best way to get feedback on how we as a community can make Drupal's UX shine so everyone can get to all the beauty underneath the hood. This usability study is unique because it will be live-streamed so anyone can watch as it happens and get a feel for the difficulties new users face in their first interactions with the system.