You’re developing a SaaS product. How can you make sure it’s user-friendly?

1 Define your goals

Before you start testing, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to learn from your users. What are the main tasks or scenarios that your product enables? What are the pain points or challenges that your users face? What are the key performance indicators (KPIs) that measure your product’s usability? For example, you might want to test how quickly and accurately users can complete a registration, a purchase, or a report. Or you might want to test how satisfied and loyal users are with your product. Having specific and measurable goals will help you design and analyze your tests.

2 Choose your methods

Usability testing is an essential step for understanding how users interact with your product. Depending on your goals, budget, and timeline, you can choose from a variety of methods, such as moderated testing, unmoderated testing, qualitative testing, and quantitative testing. Moderated testing involves observing and interacting with users in person or remotely; it gives you rich and detailed insights but can be time-consuming and costly. Unmoderated testing allows users to use your product without intervention; it is faster and cheaper but may be less reliable. Qualitative testing focuses on understanding the why and how of user behavior; it helps you discover user needs, preferences, and problems but can be subjective. Quantitative testing measures the what and how much of user behavior; it evaluates user performance, efficiency, and satisfaction but can be impersonal. Combining different methods will provide a comprehensive view of your product’s usability.

4 Prepare your materials

Once you have your participants, you need to prepare for your tests by ensuring the product or prototype is functional, stable, and accessible. Additionally, decide which features or aspects of your product to test and which ones to exclude or limit. Design realistic and relevant tasks that reflect your goals and match your users’ needs and contexts. Also provide clear and concise instructions, expectations, and criteria for each task. Prepare open-ended and neutral questions to elicit user feedback, opinions, and suggestions. Avoid leading or biased questions that influence user responses or behavior. Lastly, choose the tools or platforms that suit your methods, budget, and preferences. Test them beforehand to ensure they work properly and securely.

5 Conduct your tests

Now you’re ready to conduct your tests with your participants. To ensure a smooth and productive testing process, it is best to schedule your tests in advance and confirm the participants’ availability and consent. Additionally, you should set up your testing environment and equipment, and check for any technical issues or glitches. When the participants arrive, welcome them and introduce yourself, your product, and your goals. Explain the testing procedure and expectations and answer any questions or concerns. Ask them to sign a consent form and a non-disclosure agreement if needed. Then, start the testing session and observe and record their actions, behaviors, and feedback. Finally, ask them to complete a post-test questionnaire or interview to collect additional feedback and impressions. Be sure to thank your participants for their participation and contribution by rewarding them accordingly.

6 Analyze your results

The final step in usability testing is to analyze the results and draw conclusions and recommendations. To do this, you should organize and consolidate your data and notes from the tests, identify and categorize the main findings, themes, and patterns, compare and contrast your findings with goals and KPIs, highlight the strengths and weaknesses of your product’s usability, prioritize issues that need to be fixed or improved, generate solutions for enhancing usability, and communicate and report your results to stakeholders. By following these steps, you can ensure that your SaaS product is user-friendly. Usability testing should be an ongoing process that helps you improve design, functionality, and user value. Testing regularly can help you avoid costly mistakes, increase user satisfaction, and gain a competitive edge.

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?