The Nielsen Norman group published reports on the usability of iPad Apps and websites that was widely read. But did their lab setup really reflect how people use the device? For a recent project we chose to set up our lab differently.

Observe others use an iPad "in the wild", take a look at Apple's guided tours or simply use one yourself. You will reach the same conclusion: the iPad is not a table-top device. It is meant to be held in your hands, not lying flat on a surface. Yet this is precisely the way the N/N group conducted their testing: with the device lying on its back under a document camera.

At Flow we understand that this is an unrealistic setup, and have arranged our own lab to match the way people actually hold their iPad.

We recently tested an iPad app for watching videos. We realised that this application was likely to be used while comfortably seated in a sofa. So we brought a sofa to allow this in our lab too.

Then came the question of what should be recorded during the sessions. For a typical website testing session, we use a desktop computer with Morae to record the participant's screen and a picture of their face via a webcam.

There are now options to get the iPad screen replicated on a external monitor for viewing or recording. But these involve plugging a cable in the device, which restricts how the device can be held, so we decided against it.

Instead, we used a camera located behind the sofa to take an over-the-shoulder look at the iPad screen. This also allowed us to also capture how the device is being held, what the user hands are doing, and what the user’s hands hide. These are essential to understand how a touch screen interface is reacting.

To also capture the facial expression of participants, we used another webcam that was positioned on a coffee table in front of the sofa.

By allowing the participants to hold the device how they would at home, we can take away some of the awkwardness of the lab setting, observe a more authentic experience and potentially discover issues that wouldn't have surfaced otherwise.