Usability Testing

summary | detail | methodology

In usability testing, people whose characteristics (or “profiles”) match those of the target audience perform a series of typical tasks. Each participant, working one at a time, performs the same tasks under controlled conditions, facilitated by a test administrator. Many usability problems emerge within the first six sessions of a usability test.

The basic premise of usability testing is that we can gain unique insights about target users’ needs and preferences by observing their behavior as they perform typical activities. Effective usability testing accurately emulates the expected real-world context of use. The two most important parts of this emulation are realistic scenarios (situations of use combined with user tasks) and representative users (test participants with the same characteristics as the target audience).

Sessions can take place in a usability lab (Tec-Ed’s Midwest usability lab, our client’s lab, or a rented facility), in an office or conference room, or at the user’s site when testing with their data or in their environment is crucial to addressing the study goals.

Clients can observe sessions in person or, for many usability studies, remotely via Web-enabled viewing software. Tec-Ed can also administer sessions remotely in cases where being at the user’s site is not feasible.

When to Choose This Method

Usability testing is useful for:

Identifying problems.
Exploring questions with measurable answers.
Confirming or challenging assumptions made during product design.
Establishing performance benchmarks.
Comparing the usability of similar products such as:
- Your product and the competition.
- Your product and a best-of-breed product that offers similar features but is not necessarily in direct competition.
- Two preliminary designs of your product.

Usability testing requires some version of the product—even an early prototype—for participants to work with. As the product nears release, usability testing can validate previous usability improvements and establish performance benchmarks.

What You Can Learn From This Method

Usability testing is valuable for making clear-cut design decisions about a product. In exploratory usability testing, the goal is usually to identify problems based on the experiences of people who represent the product’s intended users. In performance usability testing, the goal is to collect quantitative data—for example, how long it takes users to complete a task and/or the number of errors they make.

Usability testing also has a strong psychological benefit for observers and helps build credibility for usability activities within an organization. The experience of watching people having problems in a test session is more convincing to product designers and developers than simply hearing the opinions of usability specialists.

What You Cannot Learn From This Method

It’s never practical to usability-test every aspect or feature of a product. It typically takes about an hour for a participant to perform three or four tasks. Tec-Ed works with you to design test tasks to focus on the most important questions to answer or issues to explore within the allotted time.