Usability Testing Method: This is How it Works!

Design is always only half the rent. Fundamentally, design means shaping something. But the exciting question is always: Does it also work? This question is particularly important in the UX Design (UX - stands for User Experience ). It's about whether users are able to perform a task (User Intent) using the UI (User Interface).

Do they succeed, the user-friendliness, English Usability . The only way to find out is actually only the practical test, that is, real tests, with the appropriate target group.

That sounds easier than it actually is. Usability testing is an important skill for UX designers, graphic designers and web designers. What exactly is it and how do you approach it? How does it differ from user testing? What specific methods can you use? This article aims to clarify these questions.

What is usability testing exactly?

UX designers design user interfaces for digital products. These can be apps, desktop programs, websites or the menus of smart TVs and also small wearables, like a smartwatch. UX design is a continuous, iterative process - meaning a cycle of design, searching for weaknesses in the draft and improvement - until you get to a beta version and finally the final product.
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⁠Appropriate tools in the design area can be found in the category Web design as well as the category Graphic-Design .

Usability tests are part of this cycle - and itself a process in which, through observing users interacting with the product (or a prototype of the product), they aim to find ways to improve their product. The aim of usability testing is to improve the user-friendliness of products.

The user-friendliness or Usability is a measure of how easy it is for users to complete a specific task with the interface - for example, finding a desired product in an online shop, putting it in the shopping cart and ordering it.

Usability testing is suitable for many software and hardware products, such as:

• Websites: Portals, online shops, web apps, intranet
• Mobile: Apps, tablets, smartphones, e-readers
• Prototypes: Concepts, first drafts, scribbles
• Electronics: Smart home, assisted living, smart TV, game consoles, hi-fi
• Household: Washing machine, microwave
• Software: Apps, Games, Cloud software, SaaS
• Medical technology: Nursing, medical devices
• Kiosk systems: Terminals, POS systems
• Voice: Voice assistants, call center

Why is usability testing so important?

Usability testing is the best method against operational blindness. The developers and their team always know a product exactly - too exactly. So they can no longer objectively assess how real users deal with it. Usability tests provide the answers here.

Usability tests reveal the weaknesses of the software and thus the pain points for the user. They show the barriers to good user-friendliness. You also learn more about the behavior of the users, their wishes, interests and preferences. This results in new design ideas: Where is there potential for improvement that you have overlooked? Long-term: Where could the direction go in version 2.0?

You can carry out usability tests at any time during the design process. Actually already in the design phase, when you are designing the first ideas for screen design as simple Wireframes. You can draw wireframes by computer or pencil. Simple lines sketch elements such as buttons and text blocks as "Wires". With software like Miro you can design such so-called low fidelity wireframes for free.

You can find other suitable tools in the category Wireframing. These include, among others:

Adobe XD

Lucidchart

Microsoft Visio

Balsamiq

The basic rule is: Test early and often! Usability tests work with both low and high fidelity prototypes. Low fidelity would be the aforementioned wireframes, high fidelity already functioning software or clickable, interactive prototypes with screen designs. Usability testing never actually stops. Even when the product is finished, software always applies: first, it is never finished and second, there is always something to improve.

Usability testing is not user testing

User testing (or user research/user research) sounds like usability testing, right? Here, a distinction is important. Usability and user tests both aim to improve a design. They want to create a design that corresponds to the actual needs of the user. Both observe or listen to the user and want to find out where the hang-up is and what is really wanted. And both are ultimately looking for ways to eliminate pain points and problems. Now comes the big but:

• In user tests, the question is essentially whether these particular types of users want this particular type of product - or what kind of product would be useful for them at all. They are completely focused on the user and his needs.

• On the other hand, usability tests are more product-oriented and examine the needs of users in the context of an already existing product. This can be an early prototype. So it is tested whether an existing product works in the hands of the users - and whether they are able to achieve their intentions with it.

What kinds of usability tests are there?

There are two big categories of usability tests: formative and summative tests.

This has to do with when, i.e. at what stage in the development process, you carry out the tests and what their general objectives are - i.e. what overarching effects the tests should have on the product. Development processes are iterative, meaning that quality is improved in iterations (versions that represent an improvement on the previous version) - from the prototype to the final product.

Formative usability tests:

• Is a qualitative research process.
• Take place at an earlier point in the design, development or integration process.
• Try to understand what needs to be improved about the product.
• Lead to qualitative insights and ideas that you can incorporate into prototypes and wireframes.

Summative usability tests:

• Is a research process that is more quantitative in nature .
• Takes place at a later point in the design, development or integration process.
• Attempt to understand whether the solutions they implement (or have implemented) are effective.
• Lead to quantitative results that can help general areas for improvement or specific areas for fine-tuning .
• These tests may be accompanied by a competitive analysis.

Behavior research and attitude research

In addition to the timing and purpose of the tests (formative vs. summative), there are two more big categories of usability tests: behavior research and attitude research.

• In attitude research it's about what people say - what they think about the product and what they communicate when using it and how it works.

• Behavior research focuses on what people do - how they actually interact with their product and what feelings arise from it.

What people say and what they do are often two very different things. These two categories help you define these differences, select test methods more targeted, and better categorize results.

Which usability testing method is particularly important - and what does it aim at?

There are various common methods to carry out usability testing, such as performance tests or eye-tracking. Some aim at either uncovering behavior- or attitude-related insights. Others have the potential to lead to both results, but need special care in their implementation.

The goal of all methods is to be able to put yourself in the emotional world and in the heads of the test persons.

A test that combines both insights, is the performance test. In performance tests, you sit down with users and give a task (or a series of tasks), which he or she should do with the product.

You can observe how the target group uses your product and find out how they feel the experience afterwards. Depending on how they proceed, you observe the target group. You take notes and ask questions about usability.

Performance tests are by far the most well-known form of usability tests. They can be combined with other methods. Many UX design certification programs focus on this method because it is so comprehensive, useful and adaptable.

How can you conduct usability tests?

You can basically do usability tests cheaply and yourself. Or get help from experts. Here we present the various possibilities.

Tests without service provider

The simplest method is the card method. Usability tests can also be started in the team, completely without digital help, with simple sketches on paper. You draw the elements of the user interface with a pencil on paper and spread them out on a table. Team members can then describe "I click here" and go to the next piece of paper - and navigate through the sketches. At the same time, they describe their thoughts out loud. This type of test is suitable for very early preliminary considerations.

The whole thing also works digitally: you could for example send a link to an interactive prototype in the web to friends and ask them to perform different tasks. They can send their experiences to you by e-mail. Or you publish the current version in social networks and ask for feedback - or simply regularly ask the community where improvements could be made.

Tests with service provider and without lab

The second possibility is to hire a service provider for usability testing. This is available remotely, such as at Rapidusertests. According to its own statements, the provider has 30,000 testers ready from a target group. Videos, recorded with screen recording and loud thoughts, then show the thoughts of the users during testing. Initial results are available in a few hours - faster than with in-house tests. Unmoderated desktop tests are also possible internationally. To submit, you only need to deliver a URL for testing. Usability tests are available here starting at about 140 euros. With the video it is then also easier to convince stakeholders. Expert help is available on request.

Tests with service provider in lab, possibly remote - and with consulting

Providers like Usability.de have user research and usability tests in the program. Usability tests are fundamentally carried out with real users from the respective target group - either on site in their own test studio - or here tests are also possible remotely via screen sharing. So every user device, whether desktop, smartphone or tablet, can become a virtual test lab. And it doesn't always have to be the moderated usability test, many other UX methods are also suitable for remote execution.

Usablity.de also offers user research (User Research). By systematically using scientifically based methods with the experience and knowledge of UX experts, expensive misdevelopments and nasty surprises are supposed to be avoided. Usablity.de also advises which methods and tests are suitable for which results.

Conclusion: Why investments in usability testing are smart.

The success of Apple products, which are characterized by their ease of use, shows how much potential usability and the precision in details such as graphic design and good UX writing methods  bring with them. In the category e-commerce

for example, the smallest improvements like a slightly larger order button in a different color can mean millions more in sales. According to customer statements by Rapidusertests.de, conversion rates have already improved by 30 percent with the usability tests.