Pluralistic walkthrough

The Pluralistic Walkthrough (also called a Participatory Design Review, User-Centered Walkthrough, Storyboarding, Table-Topping, or Group Walkthrough) is a usability inspection method used to identify usability issues in a piece of software or website in an effort to create a maximally usable human-computer interface. The method centers around using a group of users, developers and usability professionals to step through a task scenario, discussing usability issues associated with dialog elements involved in the scenario steps. The group of experts used is asked to assume the role of typical users in the testing. The method is prized for its ability to be utilized at the earliest design stages, enabling the resolution of usability issues quickly and early in the design process. The method also allows for the detection of a greater number of usability problems to be found at one time due to the interaction of multiple types of participants (users, developers and usability professionals). This type of usability inspection method has the additional objective of increasing developers’ sensitivity to users’ concerns about the product design.