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Design Shack showcases inspiring web design, alongside resources and tutorials for you to succeed in the same way. It is carefully curated and edited by Josh Johnson and David Appleyard.


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Silverback Previews


Written by David Appleyard, On 8th May 2008.
Filed in Articles, Software.



Silverback

Silverback is a new app which lets you run your own usability tests really easily. It looks set to be a great new tool for designers who want to analyze how users interact with their site. After a recent request for beta testers, a few interesting details are emerging:

  • Read Kyle Meyer’s initial impressions
  • Quicktime movies are created which show the user’s interaction with the site
  • A video and audio recording is also taken of the user, showing their expressions and remarks
  • It can also be used for testing desktop applications
  • It’s Mac only for now, likely due to the standard hardware features of Apple laptops

It’s certainly an application which could bring the idea of usability testing to a large market. There’s no substitute to actually watching someone using your website when testing it. Keep your eyes peeled for a release and give it a try for yourself.

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2 Comments

  1. It certainly seems like a good idea. Not sure if it will be useful to the casual designer – might be more suited to web apps?

  2. I’m wondering how well this would work if you’re looking for a certain level of experience from the users. Say for example a financial app for insurance salesman. Obviously they are going to understand some of the nuances of a web app that caters to their industry than my mum.

    Looks terrifically promising so I’ll take note of it. Thanks for pointing it out!

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