testing

Experts Explore Challenges of Testing Treatments for COVID-19

Researchers are scrambling to find effective treatments for COVID-19, which has infected more than 1 million people around the word.




testing

COVID-19 Testing - What It Measures, Who Gets it, and How Much Is Needed

When it comes to COVID-19 testing, questions remain about which of the tests available are reliable, how much testing is needed, and how to ensure access to testing. The latest COVID-19 Conversations webinar explored the challenges ahead.




testing

In Fighting the COVID-19 Pandemic, Disease Surveillance, Testing, and Contact Tracing Likely Here to Stay

Disease surveillance, testing, and contact tracing are among the best public health tools available to protect ourselves and our communities during the COVID-19 pandemic, said panelists during a recent COVID-19 Conversations webinar, hosted by the National Academy of Medicine and American Public Health Association.




testing

Advantages and Trade-offs of COVID-19 Diagnostic Tests, National Testing Strategies Examined in New Rapid Response to Government

A new rapid expert consultation from a standing committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine examines four topics related to the use and interpretation of COVID-19 diagnostic tests.




testing

National Academies Offer Guidance on Student Behavior and COVID-19 Testing for College Administrators Ahead of 2021 Spring Semester

Two new rapid expert consultations from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine offer lessons learned from the 2020 fall semester regarding COVID-19 testing and guidance on student behavior, as college administrators plan for the 2021 spring semester.




testing

‘Nation’s Report Card’ Assessment Should Make Changes to Contain Costs, Allow Innovation in Education Testing and Research, Says New Report

The National Assessment of Educational Progress — which produces the “Nation’s Report Card” and other critical education data — should make changes to understand and reduce its costs and open the door to innovation.




testing

New Report Calls for Expanded PFAS Testing for People With History of Elevated Exposure, Offers Advice for Clinical Treatment

Testing for exposure to PFAS — chemicals used in a broad range of consumer products for decades — should be offered to patients who are likely to have a history of elevated exposure. A new report provides advice to the CDC on how clinicians can interpret test results and deliver follow-up care.




testing

HCLTech launches 5G testing, validation lab in Chennai for telecom OEMs

HCLTech said the lab is scalable to test millimeter-wave (mmWave) frequency 5G infrastructure to help OEMs and telecom service providers quickly and accurately measure critical parameters.




testing

AI has made testing tools and systems more responsive and agile

Managers in Industry 4.0 will need risk management skills, says Rekha Sethi, director-general of AIMA




testing

Zoox headcount grows as Amazon's self-driving unit expands testing in Vegas

Amazon's shares were 1.2% higher at $128.84 in early afternoon trading.




testing

Flavorchem: Sensory testing plays vital role in consumer acceptance

Flavorchem began building its Sensory Department after the 2020 opening of the SRS Center for Taste Innovation at their Downers Grove campus. 




testing

IAPMO commends Washington State Legislature’s passage of bill requiring testing water for lead in schools and daycare facilities

Lead contamination in drinking water poses serious health risks, and even low levels of lead exposure can cause permanent cognitive, academic and behavioral difficulties in children.




testing

NSF opens advanced Water Testing Laboratory in Germany

This facility marks NSF's first laboratory within continental Europe, offering in-house certification testing for NSF/ANSI/CAN 60 (Drinking Water Chemicals – Health Effects) and NSF/ANSI/CAN 61 (Drinking Water System Components – Health Effects) standards.




testing

ICC-ES strengthens organizational structure to unify leadership of Testing and Certification Services

These changes will unify the Conformity Assessment Group, merging testing and certification services under one roof to provide consistent, gold standard- level customer service across all departments and all office locations.




testing

Honeywell’s VeriPRO fit-testing system

Get an accurate, real-world picture of your employees’ hearing protection.




testing

Honeywell introduces cloud-based digital twin for efficient and secure up-to-date testing

The platform can be used by companies in industries such as Oil & Gas, sheet manufacturing, and chemicals to test modifications during planned shutdown periods to reduce rework.




testing

Is your facility at risk due to inadequate electrical testing?

Many facilities do not follow best practices when inspecting and maintaining machinery, leading to unnoticed and unmanaged hazards.




testing

Hearing Protection Fit Testing: How NIOSH revolutionized practices

When loud noises cannot be reduced or eliminated through engineering controls, workers who are exposed to them must use hearing protection devices (HPDs) to conserve their hearing. This notion is not new, nor is the concept that HPDs require fit-testing to be effective.




testing

You need to know your gas monitor testing instruments are reliable

Modern day portable gas detectors are quite reliable and accurate. For enhanced worker safety and to be fully compliant there is a little known concept called bump testing. Bump tests are crucial when it comes to protecting your workers from hazardous gases and other air-borne toxins.




testing

Burhani Engineers Ltd Revolutionizes Industry with the Launch of the First Valve Testing and Rehabilitation Hub in Nairobi, Kenya

Burhani Engineers Ltd in Nairobi, Kenya Unveils Revolutionary Valve Testing and Rehabilitation Hub




testing

Radeus Labs Inc. Secures Major Contract from GA-ASI for UAS Testing and Upgrades

Radeus Labs has been awarded a major contract by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) to provide vital support for testing and upgrading their Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) platforms.




testing

Conversational AI from Lifelink Systems Showcases Ability to Expand Access to Targeted Genetic Testing in First-Of-Its-Kind Remote Clinical Study

Digital Assistants supported trial education, enrollment, consent, and site referral in recently completed BRCA cohort study.




testing

Creative Diagnostics Launches Antimicrobial Synergy Testing Services

Creative Diagnostics has recently launched a series of Antimicrobial Synergy Testing Services to the reserch community.




testing

Automotive Testing and Battery Management Leader, Midtronics, Announces Release of "The Electric Vehicle Battery Service Strategy Guide"

Strategic Guide Offers a Game-Changing Playbook for OEMs, Aftermarket Service Providers, and Beyond




testing

CMV (Cytomegalovirus) and HIV in Semen Testing During the COVID19 Emergency Era reveals that current anti-viral therapies do not eliminate HIV in the semen of HIV-infected men

CMV is known to be present in semen of HIV-infected men, factors leading to shedding of each virus are unknown. Studies determining the efficacy of adding anti-CMV treatment strategies to HAART on lowering the semen burden of CMV are urgently needed




testing

Punyam.com Launched ISO 17025 Documents and Training Resources for Various Testing and Calibration Laboratory Accreditation

Company receives over 120 customer inquiries every week for providing these technical resources – editable ISO 17025 documents and online ISO 17025 auditor training. Now 13 customers from different countries has already purchased them online.




testing

AirKast and Audience Forge Strategic Partnership to Integrate Contesting Systems in Mobile Apps

Enhanced Mobile App Experience: AirKast and Audience Forge Collaborate on Contest Integration




testing

apZme Unveils "apZme Dx" - A New Type IV Home Testing Device and Mobile App Revolutionizing Home Sleep Testing

apZme Dx Brings Convenient, Accurate Sleep Apnea Diagnostics to Patients Through an Innovative Mobile Platform




testing

Global Linux Certification, LPIC, Participates in an Online Testing Program

It is now possible to apply for exams and certifications online at home or in the office through a simple process




testing

PepperBall Projectiles Demonstrate Superior Precision and Safety in Recent ASTM E3276 Testing




testing

Switzerland’s TESTEX introduces Microplastics testing

TESTEX has launched the TESTEX MICROPLASTIC label, setting a new standard for reducing textile microplastic emissions. Using advanced LDIR technology, the label certifies textiles tested for particle emissions per ISO standards. As a member of The Microfibre Consortium, TESTEX collaborates on reducing fibre fragmentation, sharing data to support sustainability goals by 2030.




testing

Employer Loses Challenge to Deadlines for Contesting Black Lung Claims

A federal appellate court rejected an employer’s challenge to the deadlines for submitting evidence to contest its liability for black lung benefits. Case: Hobet Mining Co. v. Workman, No. 23-1126, 08/02/2024,…




testing

Court Rejects Constitutional Challenge to Deadline for Contesting MMI Date

A Texas appellate court rejected a worker’s constitutional challenge to the 90-day deadline for contesting a previously assessed maximum medical improvement date. Case: Engel v. Texas Department of Insurance, No, 03-23-00077-CV, 07/17/2024,…




testing

Exposure Testing Law for Air Ambulance Workers Takes Effect

A law requiring the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation and self-insured public employers to pay for diagnostic testing after air ambulance workers are exposed to certain hazards takes effect today. Gov.




testing

Testing Brain Injury-Related Vision Issues with People Who Can’t Communicate

How do you test the vision of someone with TBI who cannot communicate — talk or respond otherwise to questions?




testing

Top Website Testing Tools that Show you the Mirror

If you are running a website or a blog, it becomes essential to keep track of different statistics that serve as a benchmark for all the hard work that you have done. These statistics may include your search engine rankings, incoming links, keyword density, traffic monitoring, code validation, website speed, mobile compatibility etc. Today I...




testing

The Keys to Successful Concept Testing: Planning

Concept testing is a research method that explores how a user perceives or interacts with a new idea. It usually takes place early in a project, and involves putting ideas into the “real world” to see how users will react to them.

Not every project needs to include concept testing, but it can make your solutions more user-centered. Involving users in the design process leads to products, sites, and experiences that are more aligned with user wants and needs — and ultimately more successful.

Concept testing is most useful when exploring ideas that are novel, complex, or risky. It can also help your team:

  • Generate more purposeful, user-centered ideas.
  • Identify which ideas provide the greatest value to users. 
  • Prioritize the most promising idea(s), saving time and money.
  • Evaluate any significant changes you make along the way.

I’ll cover how we use concept testing at Viget to help our clients gain clarity and develop user-centered solutions. 

This article will be part of a three-part series focused on concept testing. First, we’ll focus on planning out your concept testing. 

Form a clear plan

A successful concept test has a well-defined plan at its foundation from the start. At Viget, we work with clients to define what you want to learn, and who you want to learn from. 

Let’s imagine that you and your team are redesigning an online food delivery platform, and you have some new concepts that you want to test to see if they resonate with users.   

Focus on what you want to learn.

Start by defining research objectives. Think of these objectives as your north stars that will guide you and your team. You’ll use these for initial alignment, and then to frame what the prototype needs to do, and what feedback you really need.

You can create a strong set of objectives by asking:

  • What initially sparked the motivation to test?
  • Where do you have the most uncertainty about your concept?
  • What are the key things you need to know through testing?

Teams usually have a lot of questions, and feel pressure to answer all of them at once. Resist the pressure! Instead, focus on the most pressing and critical — it will allow you to dive deeper into the most important areas in a session. Otherwise, you may not have the depth you need to move forward when you finish the testing.

Let’s say you've developed new solutions that span the whole user journey of online food delivery. You could spend a whole research session asking questions that cover all that breadth, but you would get much more depth by focusing on one particular moment in the journey, like the online ordering experience.

Think about who you want to talk to (and be holistic).

If you aren’t intentional about who you test with, you can end up with feedback that may not be applicable. Ideally, you’re talking to existing customers or people who would use the website or product in the future. Look at behaviors, like whether they’ve used a competitor, or hold specific sentiments, when recruiting participants. Perhaps you’re trying to expand your audience for your new food delivery app, so you may want to talk to people who cook at home frequently as well. 

Don’t forget to think holistically. Consider every person who might interact with this solution, from beginning to end, and who might be affected by it. For your new app, you'll want to test with the diner, but your solutions may also affect the restaurant host/hostess, cooks and cashier’s workflows for example. So you may need to capture their perspectives. 

Opinions aren’t strong evidence.

You may gravitate towards seeking preferences or opinions about your concepts (i.e., “which concept is better?”). But rather than focusing on which concept users like most, it’s more important to uncover user behavior. Preference-centric concept testing won’t teach you about how someone might actually interact with this concept. 

For instance, you’ll learn much more about which new concepts for online food ordering are most beneficial to users if you ask about how they might use it in a scenario. Or even better, you actually have them interact with each one.   

Questions like the ones below will give you stronger indications of user behavior:

  • When was the last time you used [the competitor]?
  • How might this concept fit into your day to day?
  • How would you accomplish this task with the concept?

Avoid asking questions like “Which concept is better?” or “which one do you prefer?” Instead ask why one concept has advantages or disadvantages over another for a user, or how they actually envision it in their daily life. 

Even if the focus of the test is on preference (as is the case for branding or marketing research) it’s still helpful to dive deeper into what a user feels the design is communicating to them and why that prompts a specific reaction.


These key strategies that I’ve covered should get you a jump-start for successfully planning out your first concept test.

In the next article in the series, I'll dive into prototyping.




testing

The Keys to Successful Concept Testing: Prototyping

This is part two of a three-part series on how to successfully conduct concept testing with users, focused on prototyping. Check out part one (planning) to learn more.
 

Prototype your concepts

Once a well-aligned research plan has been crafted, it’s time to create a prototype (or multiple) based on your concept. There are a plethora of ways you can create prototypes that communicate your concepts to users; I’ll cover strategies that will help spark meaningful reactions and conversation.

Provide context to ground your concept

We humans as a whole are poor predictors of our own future behaviors, so it’s really important that your concept testing simulates the future experience you’re trying to test. Ideally, you want to ground your concepts, so a participant can envision it in their own day-to-day. One of the best ways to do this is by building in context, whether into the prototype itself or in the way you actually test out the concepts.

You can ground a participant in what they would actually do by: 

  • Adding small contextual details into the prototype (e.g. the participant’s name or location). 
  • Providing the participant with a realistic scenario to frame the prototypes
  • Designing a certain scenario into the actual prototype (e.g. error messages appear in).  
  • Conducting the test in the actual or simulated environment where it will be used. 

Grounding a participant can make a difference in how someone interacts with your prototype. Let’s imagine you and your team are redesigning a part of an online food delivery platform for restaurants, specifically the parts that hosts and cashiers use. When you put your concept to the test, you can ground participants by “simulating” a lunch rush atmosphere (distractions, loud noises, etc).

Build real-ish prototypes

It might sound counterintuitive but you don’t need high-fidelity prototypes for concept testing. While high-fidelity prototypes may best simulate the future experience, that level of fidelity may not be feasible for a few reasons: 

  • You don’t have the time to create something at that level of detail or complexity before testing.
  • You don’t have the details fleshed out yet.
  • You want your users to help define these details with you. 

Low to mid-fidelity (or as I like to call “real-ish”) prototypes can still get you to the insights you need and even have some unexpected benefits. It’s easier for research participants to focus on overarching concepts when interacting with low-fidelity prototypes. Higher fidelity prototypes tend to invoke feedback hyper-focused on the details. With lower-fidelity, research participants are more likely to provide critical feedback on ideas, since they don’t seem as “final.” You can also leave out certain details in a low-fidelity concept, which allows you to brainstorm with participants.

Again, crafting context is a large part of building out an idea that starts to feel “real” enough for a user to invoke a response. Some examples of real-ish prototypes with just enough context include: 

  • Setting the stage with realistic scenarios for how and when research participants would reach out to an AI chat bot in a therapy app.
  • Creating initial wireframes for a ride-sharing app that research participants test out in a simulated car ride experience, to understand what info is most helpful at each moment on the ride.
  • Sending research participants “updates” on their food delivery order, to learn what participants might want to know about their order’s progress. 

Be selective about which concepts to show

You may have several concepts (or variations on a single concept) that you want to prototype out, and test through research. They may all feel exciting and important, but showing too many in one session can leave a research participant with decision fatigue. Even if you need to test multiple concepts to move forward, you don’t want to show every single one you’ve come up with.

Instead, you’ll want to be selective. One way to help you decide which concepts are best to test is by mapping them out on a matrix.

Let’s imagine again you and your team have generated multiple concepts for your food delivery app that aim to tempt users to order takeout more frequently. Perhaps some concepts focus on individualized recommendations, while other concepts show social trends. First, create a matrix that has extreme aspects of the concepts on each end and place them where you think they might belong. 

Then, ask yourself a few questions: 

  • Are there two concepts that are too similar to each other? 
  • Is this concept playing it too safe?

These kinds of concepts may not give you useful feedback because they’re not distinct enough or they’re too neutral over all. Instead, you’ll want to select concepts that are on the edges of your extremes. Those concepts will allow you to learn much more about your users and how they might interact with your concepts in the future.


These tips will help you craft prototypes that research participants can more easily and accurately react to. 

To end this series, I’ll discuss how to prepare for the actual testing in my next article.




testing

Benefits of End-To-End Testing That Will Match Company Expectations

    Software testing is a critical component of the software development process. It ensures that software is developed with the highest quality and reliability possible. It lets developers identify and fix bugs before software release.  A comprehensive test plan is an essential part of any software testing project. The test plan should include all […]

The post Benefits of End-To-End Testing That Will Match Company Expectations appeared first on 404 Tech Support.




testing

DEFINITIVE GUIDE: FAST ANTIMICROBIAL SUSCEPTIBILITY TESTINGAn overview of today's fast AST technologies. This guide is specially designed for lab professionals and healthcare providers. It of

An overview of today’s fast AST technologies. This guide is specially designed for lab professionals and healthcare providers. It offers insight into




testing

DEFINITIVE GUIDE: FAST ANTIMICROBIAL SUSCEPTIBILITY TESTINGAn overview of today's fast AST technologies. This guide is specially designed for lab professionals and healthcare providers. It of

An overview of today’s fast AST technologies. This guide is specially designed for lab professionals and healthcare providers. It offers insight into



  • Clinical & Molecular DX

testing

Direct PCR: Streamlining Respiratory Disease Testing Research

In this report, we highlight that direct PCR, an extraction-free workflow: Can serve as an alternative to an extraction-based workflow for simpler, streaml




testing

DEFINITIVE GUIDE: FAST ANTIMICROBIAL SUSCEPTIBILITY TESTINGAn overview of today's fast AST technologies. This guide is specially designed for lab professionals and healthcare providers. It of

An overview of today’s fast AST technologies. This guide is specially designed for lab professionals and healthcare providers. It offers insight into




testing

A7: Usability Testing for the WWW

In a follow-up to last year's session, User testing on a shoestring budget, Emma Tonkin, UKOLN, demonstrates two methods of user testing. One, the cognitive walkthrough, an be carried out by a single evaluator. The second, the think-aloud protocol, is all about observing the way Web visitors interact with your Web site.




testing

B7: User Testing on a Shoestring Budget

Emma Tonkin, UKOLN and Adam Hardy will consider that User testing is often considered to be prohibitively expensive, complicated and time-consuming; the good news is that at least two of these assumptions are wrong. This hands-on session demonstrates how to use scenario-based user testing to check out the usability of a small application. It concentrates on accessible and practical real-world techniques for user testing, analysing the results, and working out how to apply them - as quick fixes, long-term aims or feature requests.




testing

ETSI’s 4th NFV Plugtests event broadens its scope with edge computing testing

ETSI’s 4th NFV Plugtests event broadens its scope with edge computing testing

Sophia Antipolis, 29 July 2019

The 4th ETSI NFV PlugtestsTM event was one of the sunny June highlights in ETSI, as it took place from 3 to 7 June in Sophia Antipolis.

Read More...




testing

ETSI’s UCAAT, the User Conference on Advanced Automated Testing is coming up, REGISTER NOW!

ETSI’s UCAAT, the User Conference on Advanced Automated Testing is coming up, REGISTER NOW!

Sophia Antipolis, 9 October 2019

ETSI’s User Conference on Advanced Automated Testing (UCAAT) is an annual and international conference dedicated to application aspects of automated testing including model-based testing, cloud testing, mobile testing, test methodologies, test management and standardized test specification by focusing on the practical challenges that are often faced in industry. Organized by ETSI, this year’s event is hosted by Sogeti in Bordeaux with Hustef and Testistanbul as partners and will take place on 22-24 October 2019.

Other sponsors of the event include Agilitest, Henix, KalifastTricentis and MTP

Rapid technical advances in IT services, transport (of all kinds), healthcare, finance, telecoms, broadcasting and smart cities are blurring the lines between the various industry sectors. Solutions bringing together previously disparate actors and technologies now need to co-exist and inter operate to an unprecedented extent. This, and the increasing presence of Artificial Intelligence, whether it be for the use of AI in testing or the testing of AI systems, brings challenges and opportunities to the entire testing community.

The UCAAT conference will open on the 22 with two tutorials and will be followed by sessions dedicated to test automation, artificial intelligence, test approaches and experiences and test languages.

So if you want to join the testing experts of this very global community, just REGISTER.




testing

ETSI enables intercontinental testing for next-generation emergency communications

ETSI enables intercontinental testing for next-generation emergency communications

Sophia Antipolis, 23 March 2021

ETSI has successfully completed its international emergency communications interoperability testing event. 285 test pairings, with 87% demonstrating interoperability, were run from 22 February to 5 March 2021, both in Europe and across the Atlantic to assess the compatibility of products for mission-critical public safety services. This remote event was a cooperation between ETSI, EENA, the European Emergency Number Association and for the first time NENA, the 9-1-1 Association.

Read More...




testing

ETSI NFV and MEC API 2021 testing event Report now available

ETSI NFV and MEC API 2021 testing event Report now available

Sophia Antipolis, 16 April 2021

The ETSI NFV&MEC API Plugtests™ 2021 event, which ran remotely during the whole month of February, allowed participants to self-evaluate the conformance of their API server implementations with network function virtualization and multi-access edge computing API specifications. The event allowed also to validate and gather feedback on ETSI NFV and MEC API and Conformance Testing Specifications, and associated Robot test suites. The full Report, including results, findings and lessons learnt is now available HERE.

Read More...




testing

ETSI releases IoT testing specifications for MQTT, CoAP and industrial automation and control systems

ETSI releases IoT testing specifications for MQTT, CoAP and industrial automation and control systems

Sophia Antipolis, 25 June 2021

The ETSI committee on Methods for Testing and Specifications (TC MTS) has recently completed a first set of seven standards addressing the testing of the IoT MQTT and CoAP protocols, and the foundational security IoT-Profile.

Read More...