Usability Testing Done Right

Read time: 4 minutes

I have been a Product Designer for 9 years.

During that time, I've conducted over 100 usability tests.

In fact, during my first job, I conducted a usability test at least once a month.

If my manager asked me to run a usability test tomorrow, with little time to prepare, I wouldn't hesitate.

If anything, I would feel excited.

I know, what's wrong with me?

Hear me out. This definitely wasn't the case a few years ago.

I would feel anxious for days before the actual usability test.

I was worried I would ask the wrong question, stumble on my words, and say something stupid.

In addition, other team members always observed test sessions to see how the users interacted with the designs.

Talk about added pressure! 

Today, I want to share three methods that helped me develop more confidence. 

I went from spending days memorizing what to say before a usability testing session to only needing a few hours to feel prepared. 

1. Become comfortable with long silences

2. Always dig deeper into users' answers

3. Don't follow a rigid script

1. Become comfortable with long silences

You know the moment you ask the user a question about your prototype, and they go silent as they look at your design.

And it feels like they're silent for hours.

It is so tempting to try and fill this silence.

Don't.

I know, it feels super awkward.

I also get really tempted to elaborate on my question.

Don't do this either.

Believe me, the user isn't feeling the awkwardness you are. They're processing what they're looking at and the question you've asked them.

Interrupting their thought process by filling the awkward silence could lead to missing critical insight.

Instead of filling the silence, observe the user's body language and facial expressions. This can provide valuable insights that words might not convey.

2. Always dig deeper into the user's answers

When a user answers my question, I rarely take their first answer and move on to the next topic.

Because the greatest insights are often hidden below the surface, let me give you some examples of how I do this.

User says:

"This doesn't really make sense to me".

I say:

"What part specifically doesn't make sense?"

"What is it about what you're looking at that doesn't make sense?"

"Why doesn't it make sense to you?"

"What do you understand it to mean if you had to guess?"

You can ask several different follow-up questions to identify exactly what is confusing the user in this scenario.

Without digging deeper, you will not know what changes to make to your designs, and you risk making changes based on your assumptions.

I've often made assumptions about why the user was confused about a feature, only to be proven completely wrong when I asked my follow-up question.

Let me give you another example.

User says:

"I like this, I would use this design."

I say:

"Which part do you like?"

"What is it about this you like?"

"How would you see yourself using it?"

"In what scenario would you use it and why?"

These follow-up questions provide more than a list of what users liked and disliked.

You'll know the reason behind their likes and dislikes.

This helps you understand how to improve your design.

3. Don't follow a rigid script

In the past, I used to write out each question for usability tests word-for-word.

This rigidity made the test feel very unnatural and didn't flow well. This impacted how the users interacted with the designs and, therefore, the final insights.

Now, I let the user dictate the order of how they explore and interact with the design to see their genuine experience.

Once they're finished, if they miss aspects I want to cover, I go back to these and get their views on them.

So, instead of a word-for-word script, I have a list of features, components, and screens that I want to cover, and I tick them off as the user interacts with them.

This approach may cause users to highlight unexpected elements that confuse them. Take advantage of this opportunity to delve deeper into this, even if it wasn't part of your original plan.

Which is a mistake I've made in the past.

Conclusion

Start with applying one of these when you next run a usability test. You'll see a massive difference in how much easier you find running the sessions and the quality of the data you get.

Better quality data = Better quality designs

Let's keep finding ways to improve the quality of our designs.

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