Saving budget? No, here is why you're wasting budget by skipping user testing.

In this small series I try to make you think about the state of your mobile app. How healthy is it? And assuming you want to win the race, what can you do to make sure you don’t crash? In this edition, I like to zoom in on something that all too easy gets skipped or overlook, user testing your product (by real users).

How comfortable would you feel if cars (or new features) never got tested before making it on the road? No matter how well they were engineered, designed or built, there's a big chance you discover a lot when you test it. However, when you have (finally) arrived at delivering your app, or your feature that you’ve worked so hard on, too often user testing gets deprioritised. Time or budget usually being given as the reason. 

User testing is a quick and easy way to test and refine ideas before your app goes to market. It saves customers from a bad experience and better yet, can save you time and money in the development of things that might not even be important. You don’t even need to test with a large number of people - studies have found that 5 people can find over 80% of the issues. 

I am not blind to the realities of the business and understand that sometimes releases don’t follow the perfect plan. But unrightfully so I’ve come across clients that believe that user testing can only be done before the release. And although upfront user testing would give you the opportunity to prevent something unwanted coming to the market, it is always a good idea to test your products, features, and accessibility. Also when your product has been released some time ago already. You will find interesting results.  Trust me on this one.