5 Simple Tips that Help Improve User Testing
Testing is indispensable when it comes to launching a new product or just releasing a new UX design. A product that has gone through a comprehensive and well-planned user testing mode stands a better chance of succeeding.
Here are five simple tips that can help you make sure you get the best results of the testing phase of your product:
Decide what’re your objectives
Without clear objectives, a testing session may turn out to be futile and a waste of time and effort. Make sure you know what you are looking for: it may be the time taken by users to complete a particular task; it may be whether they can complete a particular task successfully or not. Whatever be your objective, outline it.
Prepare your questions well
Before you have some testing session going on, you need to prepare the questions which you are looking to answer. Prioritize them and set time for every task, and also for the whole testing session.
Get some users that represent your actual audience
A lot of companies launch their new design or product to a limited set of their already established user-base. This helps in getting the right kind of representation for proper user feedback of the new design. (Don’t limit these users to be your friends and family members only because their feedback might have a hint of bias)
More may not be needed
Don’t get your testing users in more numbers—rather, a lesser number constituting serious and concerned users will provide you the major chunk of feedback, issues, and problems that your design might have. So, focus on ensuring the quality of users—quantity does not matter much.
Let them play
Don’t explain to the user what they need to do—that’s what your design should be able to convey. If you interrupt the testing users with numerous suggestions or inputs, you are bringing the element of bias in the testing session, which is not a healthy practice for the best outcome of UX design.