Usability Testing

The goal of usability testing is to get feedback from real users primarily by having users complete a set of tasks within your prototype using a script that you will provide.  This feedback is to ensure that they can understand and use your application and feature as intended as well as to gather suggestions for improvements to the product or features being tested.  If they can’t then it is during this time that you’re keying in to where they got stuck or had questions.

For your script you’re going to want to start with a quick introduction, i.e., “Thank you for coming in today and for giving some feedback.  Today we’d like you to go through this prototype doing a few set tasks to test the product.  We’re not testing you, but the product itself.  If you would please think aloud as you’re completing these tasks so we can gather as much info from you as possible.  You’re not offending me with any commentary you provide.”  We do this so that our participants feel very comfortable and they give us as much honesty as possible so that we aren’t led down the wrong path in developing our products and features. 

After the initial intro you’ll want to get some context around the user’s existing behaviors and workflows.  You’ll want to ask them open-ended questions like who, what, where, when, and why.  These questions will tell you how your user behaves and will structure and adapt the tasks you’re about to give them so that it fits whatever they were doing before.  A few examples of questions you’d want to ask would be:

• When was the last time you did X?
• Can you give me a specific example of what you were doing during that time?

After your intro and introductory questions you’ll then show them the rough prototype.  You’ll explain that the screens you’ve done are just mock ups and they aren’t all perfectly functional and that I’ll point out the times I know something isn’t functional.  From here you’ll make sure to take copious notes, check to make sure they actually completed the task, and you’ll want to understand contextual points.  This could be things like seeing the user get stuck at a certain point, seeing them click somewhere expecting to be taken somewhere, but didn’t.  

Be sure to ask follow up questions.  Asking, “What did you think was going to happen when you X?”  or “Is there any other way you might have tried to do that?” or “What did you expect would happen when you clicked on that button?”.  Commentary from them after these would allow you to take the feedback to improve your product. 

When you’re wrapping up you’re going to want to ask debrief questions.  Questions you could ask would be, “What did you like or dislike about this current prototype?” or “What are some features or functionality you would’ve liked in this prototype?” or “What parts of this page were very important for you?”

An example of a usability test script I’ve created follows here:

Usability Test Script Template

1. Introduction

Take some time to make your participant feel comfortable and use this opportunity to set

some expectations for the usability test.

Items to mention include:

“Thanks for coming in today; we really appreciate your time and your frank feedback. This is an

informal session where we’ll be going through a prototype and we’re not testing you, we’re

testing the product.”

“Please think aloud as you complete these tasks.”

“I didn’t design this product so please be as honest as possible and don’t worry about hurting

my feelings or offending me.”

2. User Context Exploration

Ask open ended questions to get to know your participant and better understand their current

workflows & behaviors in relation to the prototype that you’d like to test. A few examples of

questions include:

“When was the last time you did X?”

“Can you give me a specific example of what you were doing at that time?”

3. Tasks

Here is where you have a series of tasks laid out for your participant to complete. Again, you

want to set expectations that your prototype is not going to be 100% functional. Remember to

take detailed notes when your participant is going through these tasks!

Task 1:  Login as a production manager and create a new project.

Task 2:  Login as a crew member to see how far along John S., a customer, and his project is.  Clock in and then complete the project as a crew member.

Task 3:  Login as a customer.  Check the existing comments and then also add one of your own.

Also remember to follow-up with relevant questions as your participant is going through tasks,

I.e.:

“I noticed you tried to do [x], what did you think was going to happen there?”

“Is there any other way you would have tried to do that?”

“What did you expect would happen when you clicked on that button?”

3. De-brief / Wrap-up

Use the last few minutes to ask high level debriefing questions to get further insights. You

might want to ask questions like:

“What did you like/dislike about this prototype?”

“What are some features or functionality you wish you had here?”

“Which parts of this page were very important to you?”