Cooperative Evaluation

A usability evaluation method in which the researcher and participant work together as collaborators rather than following a strict observer-subject protocol. Unlike standard controlled experiments, cooperative evaluation allows participants to think aloud, ask questions, and engage in dialogue with the experimenter while performing tasks. This approach is particularly valuable for evaluating assistive technology because it accommodates the high variability among disabled users, works with small sample sizes, and produces rich qualitative data alongside quantitative measures. It uses a within-subjects design where each participant tries all conditions, avoiding the difficult problem of matching separate experimental and control groups in populations with diverse characteristics. Audio recordings capture both task performance and participant commentary for analysis.