A lot of thought goes into designing a product. After the designing phase
the product goes into the development phase, where individual components or
units are developed and tested for desired outcomes. However, more often than
not the product is only checked from the perspective of developers and not the
end users. In such cases, even though the products or applications come out
looking fabulous, they might possess inherent flaws such as a poor user
interface, lack of accessibility, delay in loading, slow scrolling, an
unimaginative layout, and erroneous content etc.
These flaws when faced by the
customers end up as poor user experience, the reason being inadequate Usability
Testing. Besides, since there are many competitors of the product(s) in the
market, end users will not think twice before latching onto some other. This
not only reduces the viability of the product, but also dents the brand image
of the company producing it. Usability testing plays a crucial role in
estimating consumer expectations.
To avoid getting into such a situation in the first place, companies need
to perform usability testing in UX design for the
product or application. Usability testing involves
testing of the product by its end users or customers. While testing, the
behaviour of users using the product is keenly observed by testers and key
areas where some difficulties are faced get noted down. The areas of concern
are addressed later before releasing the product into the market thus
increasing its market viability.
UX design or simply
user experience design (also UX, UXD, XD, or UED) enables applications or
products to work better for the end user. It includes designing a better user
interface, incorporating cool ergonomics and delivering faster responsiveness
such that the end user does not find any difficulty, while navigating or
operating the product.
Best practices for usability testing
What is to be tested: The first
step is to identify the application or a particular feature of the same that is
to be tested. In a majority of cases, the whole application is tested for
usability, accessibility and responsiveness.
Who should be tested: The second
step is to identify specific users who are going to use the product for all
practical purposes. The users should be chosen carefully as a wrong choice of
users would be costly and time consuming – for the testers as well as users.
For example, a medical app meant for doctors should not have laymen as users,
but only medical professionals.
How many should be tested: A small
group of end users should be asked to run the application, as it will be easier
to observe them navigate and operate. They should be asked to ‘think out loud’
while navigating, so that the testers observing them can make informed choices
about glitches. A large group will be unwieldy.
Who should watch usability testing: It is
important to involve all stakeholders during testing, as the difficulties faced
by users will be visible to all. Unless the difficulties are observed in
person, there are chances of them being lost in transmission or translation
between various stakeholders.
