Formative and Summative testing Cheat Sheet

 

The Common Industry Format (CIF) makes a distinction between “formative” and “summative” usability tests. Formative tests are carried out:

 

• During the development of a product;
• To mould or improve the product;
• Virtually anywhere (you don’t need a lab);
• With the test administrator and the participant co-present.

 

The outputs from a formative test may include:

 

• Participant comments in the form of a “thinking aloud” narrative (for example, attitudes, sources of confusion, reasons for actions);
• Photographs and highlights videos;
• Usability problems and suggested fixes.

 

In contrast, summative tests are carried out:

 

• At the end of a development stage;
• To measure or validate the usability of a product;
• To answer the question: “How usable is this product”;
• To compare against competitor products or usability metrics;
• To generate data to support marketing claims about usability;
• In a usability lab;
• With the participant working alone.

 

The outputs from a summative test may include:

• Statistical measures of usability (for example, success rate, average time to complete a task, number of assists);
• Reports or white papers.

 

Reference: https://www.userfocus.co.uk/articles/cif.html