5 Simple Tips to Improve User Testing

Testing is a fundamental part of the UX designer’s job and a core part of the overall UX design process. It’s a great way to eliminate problems or user difficulties that were unforeseen in the design phase.

1. Test As Early As You Can

The earlier you test, the easier it is to make changes and thus the greater impact the testing has on the eventual quality of the product.

Tips:

• Don’t wait for a fully formed product— you can test design mock-ups and semi-functional prototypes (even low-fidelity ones) as long as you can explain to test participants what’s required from them.
• Once you’ve defined which user tasks should be tested, start validate your design. You can embrace  user testing. When you have a prototype, step out of your office, find people who are at least similar to your target users and begin testing!

2. Outline Your Objectives For the Test

Be crystal clear on your goals. Make sure you only ask questions you need answered. Before starting usability testing, you’ll need to ask yourself:

“What do I need to know from this test?”

and then, once you understand what you need to know, you can write your questionnaire or survey with that objective in mind.

3. Ask Open-Ended Questions

Closed questions have a limited choice of answers. These may be binary (yes/no) or multiple choice. Open-ended questions let you discover things you never thought of and let you learn the language of customers.

4. Treat Design as a Dynamic Process

A lot of designers think about the design process as a linear process which starts with user research, has a phase of prototyping, and ends up with testing. However, it should be treated as a dynamic process.

Regular user feedback should be at the heart of   user experience process.

Testing, as much as coding, designing or gathering requirements, requires its intended place in the iterative loop of product design and development. It’s important to have user tests at each interval of this process if the resources are available.

5. Test With Real Users

Validate your design based on tests with real users. Ensure you test with users who aren’t only your friends or family! You need independent and unbiased users.

Tip: When it comes to UX testing, sometimes it’s important to start with the idea of a user in your worst case scenario (e.g. someone who knows nothing about your product, is distracted when they onboard, etc). By watching that person use your product, you can quickly identify areas where the app is not simple or clear enough.