Usability testing is a great way to better understand your audience's perceptions and expectations. However, when you don't have much experience creating user tests, it's very easy to make mistakes or simply not include everything you need. This reduces the value of your test and causes you and your participants to waste their time.
Poorly designed usability tests can seriously affect the results you get, so you may want to consider using survey software to get a complete experience.
Problems that can result from poor design include: users having trouble correctly completing tasks in your user flow, and you get fewer feedback on relevant usability issues. When your respondents don't understand tasks, aren't prepared to do them correctly, or misinterpret instructions, your research won't yield the results it should. You're very likely not to discover what you were hoping for about your interface.
Here are 7 tips from our experience running usability tests to help you design user tests. These tips will help you avoid common mistakes and maximize the insights you gain from your usability test.
1) Create an attractive and immersive setting
To get the best feedback from your usability test, respondents need to be in the namibia phone number mindset of someone who is using the product in a real-life context. To achieve this, design a detailed and realistic scenario for them. Write a scenario that sounds like a story and not a set of instructions.
For example, a poor scenario might sound like this: “You need to purchase renters insurance and want to explore your options.” A good scenario might instead be: “Your friend just paid thousands of dollars to repair damage to their kitchen after a guest accidentally started a fire in it. You have guests over frequently and want to be covered in case something like this happens.”
This allows the user to really immerse themselves in the scenario and explore your product through the perspective of a real user. If you've done your demographic targeting correctly, your respondents will likely be able to relate to a detailed overview like the one above.
2) Design a route not a to-do list
Even though your respondents will be guided through your app by defined tasks, you should make the journey as close to real life as possible. Think about how someone visiting your site might navigate through the different pages and phases. You probably have an idea of how visitors move around your site and what actions they take, so use that knowledge to establish the journey a real user would take.
A task doesn't necessarily have to involve a concrete action, like signing up or purchasing. Sometimes asking the respondent to browse or explore a specific section or the entire site makes sense for that part of the journey. Letting them browse and make their own decisions can tell you a lot about how people process what they see and how they're approaching the content on your site.