How do you sort usability issues and recommendations?

1 Identify usability issues

The first step to sort usability issues and recommendations is to identify them from your data sources. These can include user observations, interviews, surveys, questionnaires, task completion rates, error rates, satisfaction scores, and any other metrics or qualitative feedback you collected during the test. You can use tools like spreadsheets, affinity diagrams, or sticky notes to organize and categorize your data into themes or patterns. For example, you can group issues by user goals, tasks, scenarios, features, or severity.

2 Rate usability issues

The next step is to rate the usability issues according to their impact and frequency. Impact refers to how much the issue affects the user's ability to complete their goals, and frequency refers to how often the issue occurs across users or sessions. You can use a simple scale of low, medium, or high, or a more nuanced scale of 1 to 5, to assign values to each issue. You can also use formulas or charts to calculate the average or weighted scores for each issue. Rating the usability issues will help you determine which ones are more critical and urgent to fix.

3 Prioritize usability issues

Once you have rated the usability issues, you can prioritize them based on their scores and your project goals. You can use a prioritization matrix or a prioritization framework to visualize and compare the issues along different dimensions, such as impact, frequency, effort, cost, or alignment with business objectives. For example, you can use the MoSCoW method to classify the issues as Must have, Should have, Could have, or Won't have, or the RICE method to score the issues based on Reach, Impact, Confidence, and Effort. Prioritizing the usability issues will help you focus on the most valuable and feasible solutions.

4 Generate recommendations

After prioritizing the usability issues, you can generate recommendations to address them. Recommendations are specific and actionable suggestions for improving the usability of your product or service. They should be based on user needs, best practices, and design principles, as well as your project constraints and resources. You can use tools like sketches, wireframes, mockups, or prototypes to illustrate your recommendations and show how they will solve the usability issues. You can also use user stories, scenarios, or acceptance criteria to describe your recommendations and their expected outcomes.

5 Validate recommendations

Before presenting your recommendations, you should validate them with your stakeholders and users. Validation is the process of testing and evaluating your recommendations to ensure that they are effective, feasible, and desirable. You can use methods like feedback sessions, usability tests, A/B tests, or user surveys to collect and analyze data on your recommendations. You can also use tools like feedback grids, Kano models, or NPS scores to measure and compare your recommendations. Validating your recommendations will help you refine them and increase their acceptance and adoption.

6 Present recommendations

The final step is to present your recommendations in a usability testing report. A usability testing report is a document that summarizes your usability testing process, findings, and recommendations. It should be clear, concise, and persuasive, and tailored to your audience and purpose. You can use tools like slides, dashboards, or videos to create and deliver your report. You should also include elements like an executive summary, a problem statement, a methodology overview, a data analysis, a prioritized list of usability issues and recommendations, and a next steps plan. Presenting your recommendations will help you communicate your value and impact, and influence decision making and action.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?