About Measuring Usability

Measuring Usability LLC is a quantitative research firm based in Denver, Colorado USA focusing on the statistical analysis of human behavior and quantifying the user experience. Since 2004 we've been helping clients answer questions such as:

• How usable is an application?
• What is the probability a user will purchase a product?
• How large of a sample size do we need?
• Which design is preferred?
• Which design has a statistically higher conversion rate?
• How long will it take users to complete tasks?

Measuring Usability LLC provides more than intuition and qualitative insights about products and designs. We provide meaning through measurement.

Contact Measuring Usability

Jeff Sauro, Founding Principal

Jeff is a Six-Sigma trained statistical analyst and pioneer in quantifying the user experience. He specializes in making statistical concepts understandable and actionable. Jeff has published over fifteen peer-reviewed research articles and presents tutorials and papers regularly at the leading Human Computer Interaction conferences: CHI, UPA and HCII and HFES. He has worked for Oracle, PeopleSoft, Intuit and General Electric.

Education

Jeff received his Masters in Learning, Design and Technology from Stanford University with a concentration in statistical concepts. Prior to Stanford, he received his B.S. in Information Management & Technology and BS in Television, Radio and Film from Syracuse University. While at Syracuse he completed a two-year thesis study on web-usability.

Content Advisory Board

The Content Advisory Board reviews and advises website content and includes the following members

• James R. Lewis PhD
• Joe Dumas PhD
• John Romadka
• Dean Barker

Publications

Books

• Sauro, J., & Lewis, J. R. (2012). Practical statistics for user research. Burlington, MA: Morgan Kaufmann.
• Sauro, J.(2011). A Practical Guide to the System Usability Scale. Denver, CO: CreateSpace.
• Sauro, J.(2010). A Practical Guide to Measuring Usability. Denver, CO: CreateSpace.

Journal Articles

• Webb,E., Matsil, R., Sauro, J. (2011) Benefit analysis of user assistance improvements in Proceedings of the Conference in Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA 2011) Vancouver, BC, Canada. ACM, New York, NY, pp 841-850.
• Sauro, J. & Lewis J.R. (2011) "When Designing Usability Questionnaires, Does It Hurt to Be Positive?." in Proceedings of the Conference in Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2011) Vancouver, BC, Canada. --Received an Honorable Mention for Best Paper
• Molich, R., Chattratichart J., Hinkle, V. & Jensen, J., Kirakowski, J., Sauro, J., Sharon, T., Traynor, B. (2010) "Rent a Car in Just 0, 60, 240 or 1,217 Seconds? – Comparative Usability Measurement, CUE-8 in Journal of Usability Studies Volume 6, Issue 1, November 2010, pp. 8 - 24
• Harkins, J., Tucker P., Williams, N. & Sauro, J. (2010) "Vibration Signaling in Mobile Devices for Emergency Alerting: A Study With Deaf Evaluators in Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education 2010 15: 438-445
• Sauro, J. & Lewis J.R. (2010) "Average Task Times in Usability Tests: What to Report? ." in Proceedings of the Conference in Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2010) Atlanta, GA.
• Sauro, J. & Lewis J.R. (2009) "Correlations among Prototypical Usability Metrics: Evidence for the Construct of Usability." in Proceedings of the Conference in Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2009) Boston, MA. --Nominated for Best Paper Award
• Sauro, J. & Dumas J. (2009) "Comparison of Three One-Question, Post-Task Usability Questionnaires." in Proceedings of the Conference in Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2009) Boston, MA. --Nominated for Best Paper Award
• Lewis, J R & Sauro, J. (2009) "The Factor Structure Of The System Usability Scale." in Proceedings of the Human Computer Interaction International Conference (HCII 2009), San Diego CA, USA
• Sauro, J. (2009) "Composite Operators for Keystroke Level Modeling." in Proceedings of the Human Computer Interaction International Conference (HCII 2009), San Diego CA, USA
• Sauro, J. (2006) Waits & Measures: Quantifying Usability Guest Editor of the ACM Interactions Special Edition Volume 13, Issue 6 November-December.
• Sauro, J. (2006) "The User is in the Numbers" in ACM Interactions Volume 13, Issue 6 November-December.
• Sauro, J. (2006) "Why a Completion Rate is Better with a Confidence Interval" in the Usability Professional's Association: UPA VOICE June 2006
• Lewis, J.R. & Sauro, J. (2006) "When 100% Really Isn't 100%: Improving the Accuracy of Small-Sample Estimates of Completion Rates" in Journal of Usability Studies Issue 3, Vol. 1, May 2006, pp. 136-150
• Sauro, J & Lewis, J R (2005) "Estimating Completion Rates from Small Samples using Binomial Confidence Intervals: Comparisons and Recommendations"in Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting (HFES 2005) Orlando, FL
• Sauro, J. & Kindlund E. (2005) "Making Sense of Usability Metrics: Usability and Six Sigma" in Proceedings of the Usability Professionals Association (UPA 2005) Conference Montreal, Canada
• Sauro, J. & Kindlund E. (2005) "Using a Single Usability Metric (SUM) to Compare the Usability of Competing Products" in Proceeding of the Human Computer Interaction International Conference (HCII 2005), Las Vegas, USA
• Sauro, J. & Kindlund E. (2005) "How long Should a Task Take? Identifying Specification Limits for Task Times in Usability Tests" in Proceeding of the Human Computer Interaction International Conference (HCII 2005), Las Vegas, USA
• Sauro, J. & Kindlund E. (2005) "A Method to Standardize Usability Metrics into a Single Score." in Proceedings of the Conference in Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2005) Portland, OR.
• Sauro J (2004) "Premium Usability: Getting the Discount without Paying the Price" in ACM Interactions Volume 11, July-August.

Presentations

2010

• Practical Statistics for Usability Testing Tutorial at the CHI 2010 Conference in Atlanta, GA
• Practical Statistical Methods for Usability Testing Tutorial at the Applied Human Factors & Ergonomics Conference 2010 in Miami, FL

2009

• Practical Statistical Techniques for the Usability Practitioner Tutorial at the UPA 2009 Conference in Portland, OR
• Comparative Usability Task Measurement Workshop (CUE-8) Co-Organizer with Rolf Molich, Tom Tullis and Jurek Kirakowski at the UPA 2009 Conference in Portland, OR

2008

• Subjective Ratings of Usability: Reliable or Rediculus? Panel Presentation at the Usability Professionals Association (UPA 2008) Conference Baltimore, MD
• The Politics of Usability: Quantitative Usability, Panel Presentation at the Usability Professionals Association (UPA 2008) Conference Baltimore, MD
• Binomial Confidence Intervals Tutorial: The Adjusted Wald Formula Invited Speaker for the American Socierty of Quality (ASQ) Boulder Chapter, Boulder CO February, 2008
• Confidence Intervals: Computations & Considerations, Invited Speaker for the American Socierty of Quality (ASQ) Denver Chapter, Denver CO Jan, 2008.

2007

• User Satisfaction: What is it, how can you measure it? Invited Speaker for the Workshop at the Usability Professionals Association Conference (UPA 2007) Austin, TX

2005

• SUM: A Single Usability Metric for Practitioners, presented at BayCHI Jan 2005

UnPublished Technical Reports

• Sauro, J (2005) The Effects of Training on Usability Measures, Unpublished Manuscript