Guerrilla Usability Testing: Quick Methods for Getting User Feedback

Feeling strapped for time or resources? Need user feedback, pronto? Enter guerrilla usability testing – your secret weapon. Ditch fancy labs and costly equipment, guerrilla testing is about catching real people in real life situations and quickly discovering useful insights as you go along.

What is Guerrilla Usability Testing?

Think of it as a pop-up UX research mission. Spot some potential users in social places such as cyber cafes, libraries, coworking spaces among others and give them tasks to perform on your site or app. Their instant reactions and issues will help refine your design on-the-go.

Why Guerrilla Testing?

It’s fast & efficient: Receive user feedback soonest possible without breaking the bank.

Real-life context: Watch users in their natural environments just as they would interact with it in their daily lives.

Unearth the unexpected: Unplanned comments from random users can bring up unforeseen problems you may have overlooked so far.

Tips for Guerrilla Testing:

Define your goals: What are you expecting to gain? Keep your test focused on specific tasks or functionalities.

Keep it Short & Sweet: Keeping testing sessions under 10-15 minutes keeps participants from becoming overwhelmed.

Think Portable: Use laptops, tablets, or even paper prototypes—anything that's easy to set up in a public space.

Ask Open-Ended Questions: Ask users to think aloud, explaining their thought processes.

Observe, Don't Lead: Don't influence their actions, but closely observe user behaviour.

Thank & Reward: Thank each participant for their time and maybe offer a small incentive—a gift card or discount on your service—for their help.

Guerrilla testing can't replace deeper research, but it's a great way to get early feedback and change your design in a jiffy.

So, grab your laptop, hit the streets, and unleash the power of guerrilla testing!

Ready to get started?