With advancements in the digital world, new techniques have been introduced to the users for better online success. In this article, we will share a complete guide on usability testing. This will include its actual definition, objectives, procedure, tips, benefits, and cost.
What is usability testing?
Usability testing is a practical approach to testing how users feel about the ease level of the design and user experience with a team of representative users. This technique basically involves strong observation of the user when they try to complete a task. You can implement it for a wide range and variety of designs and products. From early developmental stages of a product to final release, you can repeatedly carry out usability testing, in order to improve your user experience.
Objectives of usability testing
Usability testing helps you look for the design flaws that are normally overlooked. Seeing the behavior of test users during a task will help you get a deep insight into the working of your product or service. Later on, these detailed insights will help you improve upon the pain points in your design. When running a usability test, here are some important objectives that you must consider.
- See if the testers are able to successfully complete the task without any external help.
- Test the mental status and performance of the testers when they are trying to complete the task.
- Analyze if users are interested and happy to use it or not.
- Figure out problems and the extent of their impact on user experience.
- Find out solutions and plan for their practical implementation.
Usability testing is always helpful when it comes to the creation of the right products and services. But what you need to keep in mind is that this should not be your only tool in the UX research toolbox. Only focusing on evaluation will not help you bring overall improvement.
Read More: Usability Testing Methods for 2022
Successful usability testing process
For successful usability testing, there is a procedure that you must follow. Below we have listed the different steps for your convenience.
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Plan first
The very first step is to make a strong, effective plan. When planning there are a few things that you must keep in mind:
- Figure out what you actually want to test.
- Keep investigating and asking questions your product or design’s user experience.
- Analyze which areas of your product or design do you want to test.
The best way to answer your own questions is to create a hypothesis from every answer. By having a clear hypothesis you will be able to get the exact aspect that you plan to test.
Then plan how you want to conduct your test: either in-person or remotely. See the scope of the element that you want to test and keep your focus on it throughout the test. By individually testing the different aspects of your product, you will be able to get a broader view of the efficacy of your design.
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Set tasks for the users
The next step of a successful usability testing process is to set tasks for the user. This includes organizing the tasks on the basis of their importance in order to meet priority objectives first. It is better to not burden your participants with multiple tasks. By keeping the task list short, you ensure that users can effectively focus on the key components of your product’s user experience.
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Keep your goals realistic and define the tasks clearly
Think of situations when users are able to naturally use your designs. The benefit of these situations is that they make your user have a better grip on your design.
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Recruit testers
Try to study more about your users and figure out who best represents your target group. Google Forms or other screening questionnaires are always helpful in finding out the best suitable candidates. Another approach is to offer incentives via advertisements. You can also look through community groups and find more contacts. There is a chance of revealing almost 85% of core issues even if you are testing with five users only.
If you go the route of remote usability testing platforms, you can specify your demographics and have the testing group recruited for you. Of course, you are free to use your own testers in some instances. However, allowing the platform to do the recruiting work for you makes the testing process a lot easier on your side.
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Facilitate testing
During the process of usability testing, you have to consider taking care of your users. Always ensure that the testing environment is comfortable for them. Interview your users and keep observing them throughout the process to gain insight on their feelings and reactions. See the possible issues. Also, see if the user is struggling with a lack of guidance when using your product or service.
This will be indicated by situations like if a user follows the wrong navigational path. In recording usability sessions, determining how frequently the user gets confused is easy. Ask users about their test experience and their feelings and suggestions about the test afterwards. This will help you analyze the accuracy of your designer’s mental model.
Read More: Top User Testing Methods for Upcoming Launches
Benefits of usability testing
Usability testing is beneficial for design and development teams when it comes to the identification of problems. The earlier you manage to identify issues and establish the timeframe for correcting them, the more affordable the process for correcting them becomes.
Various benefits of usability testing are:
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Determine the appropriate timeframe
You can figure out if the participants can manage to finish the specified tasks within the given timeframe or not. It will also help you figure out the normal time required for successfully completing tasks related to your product’s user experience.
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Check the satisfaction level
Usability testing helps you discover the satisfaction level with your product or service. As a result, you can analyze if your current website strategy is proving fruitful or not. Always remember the higher is the customer satisfaction level, the better will be the user engagement and revenue.
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Identify the changes
The greatest benefit of usability testing is having accurate data to improve your website, services, and products. This helps you figure out if your goals are being met or if you need to think of some alternative strategical approaches for meeting your goals.
Tips for usability testing
We have managed to gather some great tips that will help you through usability testing. These are:
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Test the behavior of your user
Using metrics, you can easily test the behavior of your user. There are two types of elements that you can consider in this case–qualitative (user’s emotional response and satisfaction level) and quantitative (task duration, usability, and other numeric data points).
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Make a test report
For data analysis, take some time to review the video footage. See the design issues and let your whole team go through the analysis process. Testing the functionality of your design should not be your only goal, testing the experience of your users should also be your main goal. With our platform, you can use video annotations and highlight reels to focus in on the specific areas that are troublesome for users.
Conclusion
Make sure to follow this complete process plan before conducting a test. Check out the benefits and see how your product or service’s user experience will improve. Of course, if you are looking for a solid remote. usability testing platform, TryMyUI has all of the features and settings you need to set up robust user testing that will enhance your product’s user experience.
Tim Rotolo