User flow is the sequence of steps that a user takes to achieve a goal on a website or app. Testing user flow helps you understand how users interact with your product, what problems they encounter, and how you can improve their experience. In this article, we will explore some of the most common methods for testing user flow and how to apply them in your UX research.
Task analysis is a method that involves breaking down a user goal into smaller, observable actions and identifying the inputs, outputs, and conditions for each action. For example, if your user goal is to book a flight, you can list the actions such as choosing a destination, selecting a date, comparing prices, entering personal details, and confirming payment. Task analysis helps you map out the user flow and identify the pain points, gaps, and opportunities for improvement.
It could be redundant, but I would like to add that the devil is in the details. While we are focussing on the major flows it is also a good idea to cover different scenarios caused by real-life limitations such as task interruption, not finding the right data, comms error, etc. It is a good idea to cover most of these scenarios and how the system should response in the discovery document, which in turn becomes part of the FSD.
User testing is a method that involves observing and interviewing real or potential users as they perform tasks on your product. You can use various tools and techniques to conduct user testing, such as moderated or unmoderated sessions, remote or in-person testing, screen recording, eye tracking, think-aloud protocol, and post-test surveys. User testing helps you evaluate the usability, functionality, and desirability of your user flow and gather direct feedback from users.
User testing in UX is a vital method for evaluating and enhancing the user experience. It involves selecting representative users, creating test scenarios, observing user interactions, collecting quantitative and qualitative data, analyzing results, and making design improvements. This iterative process ensures that a product or service meets user needs and expectations, making it a cornerstone of effective UX design.
Care must be taken to recruit a diverse range of users that includes a mix of different levels of experience, tech savviness, geographies (if the product is going to be used worldwide), genders, and ages. This will allow you to collect representative information from all types of users. This may increase the research cost, so there needs to be a delicate balance to recruit the right users who will give you the most return on your investment.
User journey mapping is a method that involves creating a visual representation of the user's journey across multiple touchpoints and channels. You can use different elements to illustrate the user journey, such as personas, scenarios, actions, emotions, pain points, and opportunities. User journey mapping helps you empathize with the user's perspective, emotions, and needs and identify the moments of truth, friction, and delight in your user flow.
Card sorting is a method that involves asking users to sort a set of cards that represent the content or features of your product into categories that make sense to them. You can use different types of card sorting, such as open, closed, or hybrid, depending on the level of guidance you want to provide to users. Card sorting helps you understand how users organize and label the information and navigation of your product and optimize the information architecture and user flow.
Tree testing is a method that involves asking users to find a specific item or information in a hierarchical structure of labels, such as a menu or a sitemap. You can use online tools or paper prototypes to conduct tree testing and measure the success rate, time, and path of users. Tree testing helps you evaluate the effectiveness and clarity of your product's structure and labels and refine the user flow and navigation.
A/B testing is a method that involves comparing two or more versions of your product or a specific element of your product, such as a button, a headline, or a layout, to see which one performs better in terms of user behavior and conversion. You can use online tools or platforms to conduct A/B testing and collect quantitative data on metrics such as clicks, views, or purchases. A/B testing helps you validate your design decisions and optimize your user flow and user experience.
With the culture of remote working catching on, it is essential to consider how remote research will look like in the near future. One frugal method that worked for us in the past was to ask the users to teach us how to use our own portal. of course, we did not disclose our true identities as UX researchers to make the test more effective. Users are not always confident enough to share their voices, and hence by putting them on the level of a teacher, we ensured that the talk-aloud method remains effective throughout the test. This also allowed us to capture the moments where users were more frustrated, and we could also capture the shortcuts users had figured out to make their work faster.