The task and original case
Report usability completion and completion time without hiding the failed attempt. The five invented attempts are enough to demonstrate the measurement rules. They do not establish a population estimate or prove a design improvement.
| Case element | Value or requirement |
|---|---|
| Inputs | Five attempts;four complete with times 1,2,2,5minutes; one fails. |
| Build | A usability readout with a task definition and per-attempt evidence. |
This is an original invented exercise. It is independent practice, with no employer assessment or open-vacancy claim. Download the inputs, attempt your own result, then open the separate answer key.
Data and worked inputs
Build a result another person can follow
Define the task, successful completion condition, start point, stop point and observation window. Keep one row per attempt with completion status and elapsed time where applicable. Four complete in 1,2,2 and 5 minutes; one fails. A failure may have an observed stopping time, but it is not automatically a successful-completion duration.
Calculate completed attempts divided by all attempts for completion share. For the completed-task median, sort only the four completed durations. Microsoft's PivotTable guidance helps check numeric summaries if you use a spreadsheet; the task definition and failure policy remain authored measurement choices. Retain failure evidence in a separate column or note.
Sources[1]
Check the worked result
Completion is 4 ÷5 =80%. Sorted completed durations are 1,2,2,5, so the median is the average of the middle two values: two minutes. Report “completed-task median 2 minutes” beside “4 of 5 attempts completed.”
A headline saying only “users finish in two minutes” erases the failure and overstates the five-attempt exercise. Keep the small study scope, recruitment assumptions and observed task context visible if you later conduct a real review.
Make the failure visible
Replace the failed attempt's blank completion duration with zero and notice how that changes the median population. It would falsely label a failure as an instant success. Also test a task abandoned after ten minutes; keep that observed stopping time distinct from completion time. Multiple attempts by one person need an explicit counting rule.
Revise it and ask someone to reproduce it
Ask a peer to reconstruct both metrics from the row-level table. For revision two, add a sixth completed attempt lasting nine minutes. Completion becomes 5 ÷6, about 83.33%, while the completed median remains two minutes. Explain why the rate can change without the median moving, and retain the failed attempt's evidence.
- All five attempts support the completion denominator.
- Median time uses only the four completed tasks.
- Failed, abandoned and repeated attempts have visible status and counting rules.
Describe the work accurately
After completing your own version, you could adapt this project bullet: “Created an independent usability readout with explicit completion criteria, retained failures and completed-task duration summaries.”
Use Projects or Independent practice as the heading. Keep the input files, result and revision together. Describe only your own completed work; the invented numbers are model outputs, not employer results or measured business impact.