We have all heard time and time again that usability research helps make interfaces and products in question better as a whole. By collecting feedback, doing tests, and implementing changes, you deploy your digital product for the sake of UX/UI design.
This data helps to arrange and prioritize information on the interface. However, there is so much misinformation floating around it’s hard to understand what is right and what is wrong. In this post, you will discover everything you need to know about the practical application of usability testing and whether you need to implement it for your project.
Do You Need Usability Testing?
The most obvious groups that are interested in UX/UI usability testing are the employees of the professional UX company : designers, project managers, and developers. Oh, and of course, customers.
You Are a UX/UI Designer
Thanks to U-tests, you can test hypotheses and ideas as well as look at the product from the perspective of the user. This can aid in creating a more relevant product that the target audience truly needs. If you would like to learn more about how UX/UI designers implement U-tests in their work, follow this link .
You Are a Manager
Usability tests help gain a better understanding of how to sell and present a given product, define the target audience, what it needs, and how to give it to them. At later stages, with prototypes and mock-ups on the u-tests, managers can evaluate to what extent the users’ expectations from the first stage became a reality. You need a reliable partner who will be able to satisfy your requirements while developing a digital product.
You Are a Business Administrator/Owner
Business owners should always actively be involved in testing – it is critical that they understand the target audience. Sometimes, industry giants only think about these differences when a UX researcher comes in and want to know who the audience is and whom they should invite in for testing.
Why Apply U-Testing
Understanding the audience of a website, application, or another digital product is important not only for sales but also for the site’s development. For example, if you are a startup, it is impossible to know every single possible use of your product. Remember Twitter? Its creators never thought their invention would be used to mobilize revolutions .
Identifying new product needs, their prioritization, cross-channeling with other products and departments of the company, the user journey – all of this becomes clear during usability testing.
From Google Analytics , you can get basic data on user behavior. But on most sites, counters are installed and configured incorrectly. Also, these services do not always provide the correct information by gender/age/interests or provide data that is available for unambiguous interpretation. Therefore, it is important to conduct u-testing on real users.
How to Conduct Usability Testing
Some companies use usability testing to confirm the hypotheses that appeared during the site’s expert audit. However, you can also use the u-tests to form hypotheses, which are then verified using quantitative data: surveys and A / B tests.
With the help of expert opinion, select scenarios to test. At the stage, Google Analytics is indispensable. It provides an opportunity to present the distribution of the main social demographics, see the most popular scenarios, as well as the main problem areas of target funnels, which should be clarified with u-tests.
- Usability studies provide amazing insight. At the same time, qualitative data can live only within a limited sample and so do not extend beyond it. That is why you should go from expert evaluation to u-test, and then directly to the A / B test.
- Disseminate the results of qualitative research carefully. The formation of the overall picture proceeds from understanding users: their biographical information, computer skills, and experience using a specific product.
- The collection of the relevant info about the product depends on the context and background of the users. For example, some categories of users of an online supermarket may not be well versed in drag-and-drop technology, but this does not mean their needs can be discarded.
Final Thoughts
Usability testing shows whether the product interfaces are really what the end-users expect. It demonstrates whether the product meets user expectations, identifies problem areas in the interface, and provides an opportunity to look at the product through the users’ viewpoint. If you develop a digital product, you should apply this tool for your overall advantage.
