Comparing Two Methods of Usability Testing in Saudi Arabia: Concurrent Think-Aloud vs. Co-Discovery

Predicting Perceived Problems in Self-Administered 24-Hour Dietary Recalls: A Quantitative Think-Aloud Study Comparing Automated Self-Assisted 24-Hour Dietary Assessment Tool (ASA24®) and INTAKE24© in University Students

“…A novel aspect of the current study was to use the explorative concept of thinking aloud to better understand participants’ perceived problems during their dietary recall experience. For example, a think-aloud method was previously utilised by French et al [ 34 ] to distinguish the types of problems participants encounter while completing questionnaires or programs [ 34 , 36 ]. As such, more descriptive think-aloud results may arise when participants view ambiguous, frustrating, or memory-provoking situations [ 45 ] and are an effective way to evaluate higher-level thinking and individual differences in order for researchers to analyse cognitive processes during a task [ 26 ].…”

“…This has previously been addressed by allowing test participants to perform the task silently and comment afterwards on their performance (known as retrospective think-aloud; RTA) [ 27 ]. However, the study’s objective was to observe the problems raised using the two 24HR programs and retaining retrospective memory following a cognitively demanding food recall may provide inaccurate results [ 35 , 36 ]. Earlier work by Alhadreti [ 36 ] showed that concurrent think-aloud (CTA) outperformed RTA during usability testing, with participants reporting more problems during CTA, providing validation for its use in the study.…”

Evaluation of an Electronic Medical Record Module for Nursing Documentation in Paediatric Palliative Care: Involvement of Nurses with a Think-Aloud Approach

“…The method of concurrent thinking aloud (CTA) was combined with a subsequent qualitative interview [ 46 ]. With CTA, cognitive processes and reasons for user actions can be assessed while interacting with a technology [ 47 ]. In the context of a task-oriented approach, participants were asked to perform everyday tasks of nursing documentation using the novel module and to verbalize their thoughts while doing so [ 46 , 48 ].…”

“…The results obtained here must be assessed in light of the applied methodology [ 47 ]. During the use of the CTA method, the presence of observational evaluators may have influenced participant behaviour and verbalization (the Hawthorne Effect) [ 68 ].…”

“…Moreover, in addition to the application of the software itself, the CTA method also affects the cognitive load of participants, as they must concentrate on performing tasks and verbalizing simultaneously [ 47 ]. The resulting dual cognitive load may have influenced the completeness of the verbalized information [ 68 ].…”