Usability testing is the best method there is for identifying issues with a new design for a digital service, a product or a website. This form of testing allows a technical team to see exactly how effective a newly designed application, service or digital product will be when a customer or a website visitor is using it.
Web designers, however skilled they are, need to do some usability testing if they want the user interface to work effectively. Testing allows them to evaluate the design of the interface so they can be sure that it will be possible for every user to understand what to do.
This is a far more valuable technique than any form of testing that is set up without actually involving a real live person to provide answers about the usability of a new interface.
Usability testing allows a designer and a developer to sit in a room with the website owner or product retailer, and watch while a real live person is trying to figure out how to do something on a newly designed interface. The designer obviously knows how to do it, but when more than one user is unable to see what it is they need to do, then there is an obvious design fault that has to be dealt with.
During usability testing, a real person is using the interface in front of a designer and a developer. The user might be focusing on something they are having difficulty with, and is unable to make the newly designed interface to perform a particular task.
When this happens, it is inevitable that unless the design is changed, there will always be some users who are not going to be able to get what they want from that interface when using it on their own, without the presence of a designer or a developer.
At this point in the testing process there are questions that need to be asked about what is wrong with the usability of an interface and why users are unable to get it to work for the task they want it to perform.
Using a clickable mock-up of an interface design for usability testing is a good way for a design team to see what needs to be developed more fully. This cuts down on potentially costly mistakes that could affect the finished product. It allows errors to be fixed before a faulty feature becomes a part of the final design.
Asking questions during usability testing, before the final design stage is reached, is extremely useful. The answers provided by users are a valuable part of research that identifies whether a new feature should continue to be developed, or if it’s unnecessary because users easily achieve what they are intending to do without having to use that feature.
Conversations that take place between developers and users at this stage prove to be much more helpful than any other form of research which might involve prototypes or filming during usability testing.
When it could be helpful
Occasions when usability testing is helpful include:
- Testing two different designs
- Watching users to see if features are being used as intended
- Confirming a theory about how users will carry out a particular action on the interface
- Gaining more insight about a specific feature from the answers given by users of that feature
- Testing a change that has been made to the design after a previous test session
- Assessing the results of the changes made to a design after previous usability testing, to see if users now understand what to do, are confident about doing it and are able to use the feature without further instruction
What usability testing isn’t
It’s not the same as doing market research or asking for opinions about the usability. Testing in this way involves closer observation of how well the product works when users are asked to carry out tasks under controlled conditions.
It’s not just a matter of asking users if they understand how to do something by showing them a mock-up. Usability testing requires close observation of what people actually do when provided with instructions. It becomes obvious when people don’t understand what they are meant to be doing and the instructions, the illustration or the design needs to be made clearer.
Ending thoughts
It’s my opinion that usability testing should always be included in the process of designing a user interface. When users have difficulty with the interface, there is obviously something wrong with the design. Testing is necessary to ensure that user interaction and design are equally good.
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