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?”
