Mind tape technique - a usability evaluation method for tracing cognitive processes in cross cultural settings

Users involved in task fulfillment during usability testing undergo layers of affective and cognitive processing which has been of interest to the community of interaction designers. The iterative cycles of User Centered Design process utilize this information from users for the redesign process. Think Aloud, which is the most prevalent Usability evaluation method in practice, has been criticized on accounts of interference with task and incompleteness of reported verbal data. Cultural variation in Think Aloud usability test settings and its impact on reported findings have also been investigated and reported. This paper presents an argument for a form of retrospective verbalisation method called ‘Mind Tape’ for tracing deeper level cognitive processes of users without interfering with the task fulfillment. The users are probed and questioned about why’s and how’s of the on-screen behaviour under the stimulus of the replayed screen recording of user activities. In light of the reported cross cultural experimental study using Mind Tape method, this paper argues for the suitability, cultural sensitivity and effectiveness of the method. Results suggest that not only the sequence of activities but also the intentions and motives of the users behind choices made are traceable using