What Is Usability Testing And Do You Need It?

There are questions for which the answer is always “yes.” Should you follow your project timelines? Yes. Do you want to watch another episode of Friends? Yes. Every episode is fantastic. Does usability testing matter? Yes. Absolutely. Always. It plays an essential role in creating a good user experience, and here’s why.

The usability of a product defines how effectively, efficiently, and satisfactorily its users can use the products. In a word, “Don’t make a user think.”

How Usability Testing plays a crucial?role?

1. Making products flawless and removing flaws ensures that a product with fewer or no interface flaws is being released to the users. It eliminates the imperfections that would have been made during the prototyping phase so that a better interface can be designed that will be user-centered.
2. Helps to get user reviews and feedback on the product — The responses and reactions gathered from the tested users are always used to arrive at a better decision on making a better interface.
3. Get to know about the user’s expectations — You get an opportunity to watch your product being used while the user gives their feedback in real-time. It provides an insight into whether such a product is one that users will appreciate or a work of fantasy.
4. Ease of completing the goal — Good usability products arouse a good emotional experience and make the user feel happy and enjoyable, which will improve the user experience of the product.
5. A good exercise in terms of ROI — Issues and potential problems are highlighted before the product is launched and gets rectified at an earlier stage, which meets the needs and expectations of the users, develops a successful service, higher customer satisfaction, retention, and repeat business.

At which phase Usability Testing should be conducted?

Usability testing is not something that we do after production before launch. It should start well before we begin our work together and can be continued after the product has been rolled out and when you get a sneaking suspicion that something is off.

Doing usability testing the right way at the right time with the right set of people reduces the risk of building the wrong product, thereby saving time, money, and other precious resources.

For example, a slight tweak in design change (When users wanted to edit an item in the shopping cart) for ZARA increased its success rate from 33% to 100%.

What are the key things to be?tested?

Testing needs to be done based on six quality components.

1. Efficiency: To check how effectively users can perform a task after learning the design.
2. Errors: What errors do users make, the severity of those errors, and the way to recover from those errors?
3. Learnability: How easy is it for users to accomplish basic tasks the first time they encounter the design? Are the instructions clear? Are they necessary? Do the labels make sense? Do certain words are understandable?
4. Discoverability: Are common items easy for new users to find?
5. Satisfaction: How pleasant is it to use the design?
6. Memorability: To check how easily users can remember and reestablish specific designs after a period of not using them.

What in the world is “Think Aloud Protocol”?

The think-aloud method is critical for getting inside the user’s head. Usability tests where users think aloud are cheap, robust, flexible, and easy to learn. In the thinking aloud test, you ask test participants to use the system while continuously thinking aloud — that is, simply verbalizing their thoughts, what they expect to happen after an interaction, and so on as they move through the user interface.

It lets you discover what users think about your design, their misconceptions, which usually turn into actionable redesign recommendations, why they guess wrong about some parts of the UI, and why they find others easy to use.

For example, if you’re testing Myntra App, you should expect people to say things like, “Hm, this looks like an app for ordering clothes. I wonder how I filter things here? Maybe if I tap here, I’ll see it.” Give them an example like that one to help them understand what you’re looking for.

Pro Tips

1. A study states that five people can help you find 85% of the usability problems. However, speaking to 3 people will generally help you find more problems and fix them.

2.?Keeping track of problems that users encounter helps a lot. We can use this information to understand how likely a user meets a problem before and after user-testing.

3. Speak less and observe more — To keep the testing session as authentic as possible, you should stop talking to the participant as soon as you give your scenario and watch them use your prototype.

4. Remember that the users are not tested, and it’s the design.

Wrapping Up

To Designers: Test your ideas with real users in real scenarios as quickly as possible. The insights you gain from observing how actual users use your product are priceless. Every single iteration is an important step forward. Enjoy the testing process — it improves your designs!

To clients: Don’t make designers finish projects without testing. Make the most of the opportunities to evaluate your products before the first line of code is written. It might take one extra week and cost a bit more, but you’ll save in the end and gain a hundred times over by doing it!

Remember, stop making usability mistakes as they can kill your product.

ProCreator is an award-winning UI/UX Design agency in Mumbai , focusing on establishing an end-to-end product solution, from product design to development.

Originally Published at ProCreator Blog , Written by — Prerna Bagree .