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How can user testing be made more objective and unbiased?

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User testing is a crucial part of engineering design, as it helps you evaluate how well your product or service meets the needs and expectations of your target audience. However, user testing can also be affected by various sources of bias and subjectivity, such as the way you recruit, interact with, and observe your users, as well as the way you interpret and report your findings. In this article, you will learn some practical tips on how to make your user testing more objective and unbiased, and improve the quality and reliability of your design decisions.

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1 Define your goals and criteria

Before you start your user testing, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to learn from your users, and how you will measure their feedback. You should define specific, measurable, and realistic goals and criteria for your user testing, such as the tasks you want your users to perform, the metrics you want to track, and the benchmarks you want to compare. Having well-defined goals and criteria will help you focus your user testing on the most relevant aspects of your design, and reduce the risk of confirmation bias or cherry-picking data.

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Joseph "Cullen" O'Connor, PE

Analyzing Engineering Analysis
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This will greatly vary based on what you're designing; a hand tool, a computer program, a vehicle. However, it still comes down to a couple of key considerations. First, SAFETY! Regardless of what your designing, testing safety should always be priority. Sometimes this is more obvious (testing weapons) than others (testing a computer program interface). However, not warning users if your program contains strobing could cause harm to light-sensitive users. Second, Requirements. Testing has two goals: do you meet requirements or are the requirements valid. If you're not moving in one of those directions, you're wasting time. Third, Interfaces and usability. These can go beyond strict requirements to better accommodate the range of users.

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Promise Tomiwa Ayandele

Product Design || Technical Project Management
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Define Clear Goals and Metrics: Clearly define what you want to learn from the testing and establish measurable metrics to track success. This helps you stay focused on objective data rather than subjective interpretations.

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2 Choose your users carefully

The users you select for your user testing can have a significant impact on the validity and generalizability of your results. You should choose your users based on your target market segment, user personas, and user scenarios, and avoid selecting users who are too familiar with your product or service, or who have a personal or professional relationship with you. You should also aim for a representative and diverse sample of users, and avoid over-representing or under-representing certain groups or characteristics. Choosing your users carefully will help you avoid selection bias or sampling bias, and ensure that your user testing reflects the real needs and preferences of your potential customers.

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Promise Tomiwa Ayandele

Product Design || Technical Project Management
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Recruit a Diverse Test Group: Ensure your participants represent your target user base in terms of demographics, experience levels, and technical skills. This reduces bias based on specific user groups.

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3 Conduct your user testing ethically

The way you conduct your user testing can also influence the behavior and responses of your users, and affect the accuracy and credibility of your data. You should conduct your user testing ethically, following the principles of informed consent, privacy, confidentiality, and respect. You should explain the purpose, process, and duration of your user testing to your users, and obtain their permission before recording or sharing any data. You should also avoid leading, influencing, or coercing your users in any way, and respect their right to withdraw or decline at any time. Conducting your user testing ethically will help you avoid demand bias or social desirability bias, and ensure that your users feel comfortable and honest during your user testing.

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Promise Tomiwa Ayandele

Product Design || Technical Project Management
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Minimize Moderator Interaction: The moderator should primarily observe the user and record their actions and feedback. Avoid expressing opinions or influencing user behavior.

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4 Observe your users objectively

The way you observe your users during your user testing can also affect how you perceive and interpret their actions and reactions. You should observe your users objectively, using both quantitative and qualitative methods, such as surveys, interviews, usability tests, eye tracking, heat maps, or analytics. You should also use multiple sources of data, such as video recordings, audio recordings, notes, or transcripts, and triangulate them to verify and validate your observations. Observing your users objectively will help you avoid observation bias or interpretation bias, and ensure that you capture the full picture of your user experience.

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5 Analyze your data rigorously

The way you analyze your data after your user testing can also influence how you draw conclusions and make recommendations. You should analyze your data rigorously, using both descriptive and inferential statistics, such as means, standard deviations, frequencies, percentages, correlations, or tests of significance. You should also use appropriate and consistent methods, tools, and formats, such as spreadsheets, graphs, charts, or tables, and document your assumptions, calculations, and results. Analyzing your data rigorously will help you avoid analysis bias or reporting bias, and ensure that you present your data clearly and convincingly.

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Promise Tomiwa Ayandele

Product Design || Technical Project Management
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Data Triangulation: Analyze data from different sources (user behavior recordings, surveys, and interview transcripts) to identify recurring patterns and reduce the influence of any single data point.

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6 Seek feedback and improvement

The final step to make your user testing more objective and unbiased is to seek feedback and improvement. You should solicit feedback from your stakeholders, peers, or experts, and ask them to review your user testing process, data, and findings, and provide you with constructive criticism, suggestions, or questions. You should also reflect on your own user testing experience, and identify any strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, or threats, and plan for any changes, improvements, or follow-ups. Seeking feedback and improvement will help you avoid confirmation bias or overconfidence bias, and ensure that you learn from your user testing and improve your engineering design.

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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?

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How can user testing be made more objective and unbiased?

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3

4

5

6

7

1 Define your goals and criteria

2 Choose your users carefully

3 Conduct your user testing ethically

4 Observe your users objectively

5 Analyze your data rigorously

6 Seek feedback and improvement

7 Here’s what else to consider

Engineering Design

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How can user testing be made more objective and unbiased?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1 Define your goals and criteria

2 Choose your users carefully

3 Conduct your user testing ethically

4 Observe your users objectively

5 Analyze your data rigorously

6 Seek feedback and improvement

7 Here’s what else to consider

Engineering Design

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