Developing the Test Script
TBG wrote the test script, which asked the test participants to complete tasks using labels or elements we were least sure about, such as language changes. Penn wanted to convey that not only do they offer world-class cancer care because of the latest technological advances, but that they also offer humane, warm, patient-centered care.
Much of the labeling was changed to reflect this, as well as the overall information architecture. The old site structure organizes content according to departments and other content wells that create silos of disconnected content. The proposed site structure would allow users to navigate by conditions and treatments.
So the test script asked test participants to imagine they have breast cancer. Not a difficult scenario to imagine for most of our test participants, many of whom had been diagnosed with cancer already. The script asked them to navigate to treatment types or symptom checkers, or to get a second opinion. (Getting a second opinion is a common way for prospective patients to come to Penn.) The script also asked that test participants be able to easily and immediately find a doctor and make an appointment, since those are the two primary conversion points on the homepage.
The script contained no leading questions, but we did include open-ended questions at the end of each testing session, to suss out what real users are actually thinking. Through these open-ended questions, we mostly learned about what the test participants thought was missing from the site.