According to Nielsen Norman Group, fixing a problem after the launch of your product can be up to 100 times more expensive than fixing it during the design process.
It’s a costly endeavour that many companies often run into. But what if there was a way to reduce risk and avoid these costly mistakes during your digital product development process?And what if this approach also increased the likelihood of success for your next digital product launch?
Well, read on! Because, the answer lies with user testing and, in this article, we’ll explain how.
What is user testing?
With more than 25% of a brand’s total revenue and profits coming from the launch of new products, getting them right is critical! Taking the time to ensure your product is what people want and in a form that they need isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s a fundamental part of your business strategy. And it’s why ‘User Testing’ is so important.
So, what is user testing?
User testing is the process of inviting end users and customers to evaluate a feature, prototype, or product. Through observing users as they interact with the test subject to identify issues and gather feedback in order to make informed decisions to improve the product before its final release.
The analytics gurus at Hotjar agree – “user testing is a research method that uses real people to evaluate a product or service by observing their interactions and gathering feedback.”
It’s clear to see that user testing therefore puts the focus on end users (or ‘real people’ as Hotjar call them!). And when it comes to these end users, the key task is to observe their interactions and behaviours with your product. The goal? To fundamentally assess and evaluate the need for your digital product or specific product features.
What is the difference between user testing, usability testing and user research?
As with many digital domains, the field of user testing is often confused with other disciplines. A quick Google search on ‘user testing’ also brings up the concept of ‘usability testing’, for example. So what exactly is user testing and how does it differ from its closest digital neighbours? We’ve picked out the top two terms it’s often confused with to help clarify the topic for you and your team.
Usability testing- whereas user testing is about understanding how your user uses and feels about your digital product, usability testing is about testing the usability of a given product or product feature. AsWevooutline, this can refer to everything from product instructions to the interface of a digital app. In other words, usability testing is more of a QA process to test the user-friendliness of a product, thereby overlapping in part with user experience (UX) design and testing.
User research– this is “an umbrella term for other forms of user testing, like usability testing, surveys, and interviews.” (User Testing). User research is often carried out before any product development or design is even done, and its goal is to understand – via qualitative and quantitative methods – what the customers’ pain points, preferences and behaviours are.
What are the benefits of user testing?
When considering the benefits of user testing, it’s useful to visualise these along a path or ladder, going from bottom to top. This is because the benefits are so closely intertwined, with one leading on from another, to finally arrive at increased digital product success and ROI.
Starting at the bottom rung of this ladder, user testing helps to:
Identify usability issues or friction points faster.
As the team at User Testing claim, with user testing, “Teams can iterate faster and more incrementally than a traditional build-and-launch method…”.
Find out more about why friction could be killing your online customer journey.
Validate assumptions about user behaviours.
With user testing, you’re concurrently ensuring that any internal politics and bias are kept out of the equation.
Improve the overall User Experience (UX).
By providing insights into how users perceive and interact with the product interface, you’re making the product more intuitive, efficient, and enjoyable to use.
Enhance product adoption.
A well-designed and user-friendly product is more likely to be adopted by users and retained over time.
Build customer loyalty.
A positive user experience fosters trust and loyalty among users, leading to repeat business and business growth.
Gain competitive advantage.
By continuously refining and improving your user experience through user testing, your brand can gain a competitive edge and attract and retain more users.
And don’t forget, as you work your way up this ladder, you’re also reducing development costs and increasing ROI by focusing on building a digital product that customers actually want and need.
When should user testing happen?
You’ve probably come across agile or iterative product development by now, especially as it relates to prototyping. Well, user testing is fundamental to the iterative digital product development process that so many successful brands now follow.
To this end, user testing needs to take place at multiple stages in your development process:
Early concept testing – here, you’ll want to gather feedback on the overall idea, features and user needs.
Prototype testing – to evaluate the usability and functionality of the interface.
Iterative testing during development – to test out new features as they are implemented and refined.
Beta testing – prior to full launch, this is to identify any issues or bugs. See the example below for how Beta testing can be introduced into a digital product interface.
Post-launch monitoring – to identify any ongoing issues or areas for improvement.
How do you conduct user testing?
The best way to conduct user testing depends on various factors such as the type of product, the stage of development, available resources and your target audience.
However, there is a general framework for conducting effective user testing. We outline these steps below:
Define your goals and objectives – here, you might want to consider goals such as identifying usability issues, validating assumptions or evaluating specific features.
Recruit participants – these are people who predominantly represent your target audience. However, you should ensure a diverse group of users to capture a range of perspectives and experiences.
Create your test scenarios or tasks – be sure to reflect real-life use cases for your product as you build out these test scenarios.
Choose your testing methods – see more on this below!
Conduct the testing – and don’t forget to record the sessions for later analysis too.
Gather the feedback – how you do this will depend on the testing method you’ve chosen from the list below.
Analyse the results – crucially, looking to spot trends and patterns.
Iterate and refine – use the insights gained from the user testing to make iterative improvements to your digital product.
User testing formats and methods
User testing formats generally fall into one of three buckets:
Moderated testing – a facilitator guides participants through test scenarios while observing their interactions.
Unmoderated testing – participants complete test scenarios independently.
Remote testing – participants test the product from their own environment and using their own devices. Remote testing can be moderated or unmoderated.
The specific user testing methods then available include:
A/B testing
Probably the most well-known in the world of digital products now! A/B testing involves presenting users with two versions of a product or feature and measuring which version performs better in terms of predefined metrics such as conversion rates or user engagement. This method is particularly useful for testing design variations or feature implementations, and is perfect for agile teams who want to get more real-time feedback. Where it falls down though is that it’s so good for understanding the ‘why’ behind the results and user behaviours.
Surveys and questionnaires
These can be used to gather feedback from a larger group of users about their experiences with the product. These methods are useful for collecting quantitative data and commentary on user satisfaction, preferences and demographics.
Eye tracking
Eye tracking is great for measuring where participants are looking on the screen while interacting with your product. This method provides insights into user attention and can help identify areas of the interface that may need improvement. On the flip side, it can be costly and take a long time to set up.
Think-aloud protocol
This involves asking participants to verbalise their thoughts and actions as they interact with the product. This method provides insights into users' decision-making processes and can help identify usability issues or confusion.
Heuristic evaluation
This format involves expert evaluators assessing the product against a set of usability principles or heuristics. While not strictly a user testing method, heuristic evaluation can help identify potential usability issues early in the design process.
User testing challenges and how to avoid them
As you can imagine, with some of the user testing methods and formats outlined above, there are certain challenges that these approaches can throw up. Nevertheless, the benefits to the overall success of your digital product far outweigh any negatives and, what’s more, if you’re armed with knowing what the challenges are, you can do your best to avoid them!
Limited resources and/or time constraints
Depending on the user testing method you choose to run, it can require significant resources in terms of time, budget and personnel.
To avoid this, make sure you:
Prioritise the key issues or features you want to test.
Plan and schedule user testing early in the development process.
Explore cost-effective alternatives such as remote or unmoderated testing.
Recruitment of participants
It can be challenging to recruit participants who accurately represent the target audience of your digital product. But without diverse and representative participants, the feedback gathered may not accurately reflect the needs and preferences of your actual user base.
To avoid this:
Clearly define the characteristics of your target audience and develop screening criteria for participants.
Use multiple recruitment channels.
Offer incentives or compensation.
Bias in facilitation or interpretation
The presence of a facilitator or moderator during user testing sessions can introduce bias, affecting the way participants behave or the interpretation of their feedback. Additionally, researchers may unintentionally interpret feedback in a way that aligns with their own assumptions or preferences.
To avoid this:
Train facilitators or moderators to remain neutral and objective.
Standardise testing protocols and materials.
Use multiple evaluators to review and interpret the findings.
By addressing these challenges proactively and implementing strategies to mitigate them, you can enhance the reliability of your user testing efforts, ensuring you reap the benefits for your digital product launch. What’s more, by incorporating user testing at key stages in your development process, you can iteratively refine and improve the product based on real user feedback, leading to a more successful and user-friendly final product.
Whether it’s planning your user testing strategy or running the testing with your customers, one great option to ensure you get the most out of it is to entrust it with an expert partner.
