Usability 101

Author: Inge De Bleecker

Introduction: This course covers the basics of usability testing, including what it is, why it's needed, and basic implementation and execution details.

What is it? Usability testing refers to the testing of a product or application user interface by people who are a representative sample of the user population of that application or product. Usability testing is not functional testing; the participants in a usability testing specifically evaluate whether the user interface is user-friendly and whether it allows the user to complete the intended tasks successfully and with ease.

There are a number of different ways in which usability testing can be performed: in-house usability testing refers to a setting where test participants perform the testing in-person in the same building as where the test moderator resides. Remote usability testing occurs when the test participant and the test moderator are not in the same location. Remote testing can be moderated or unmoderated (also called ‘synchronous’ or ‘asynchronous’). In moderated testing, the moderator and the participant communicate in real-time (by phone, screen sharing). In unmoderated testing, the moderator and the participant do not communicate in real-time. Instead, the participant uses a survey task plan that was created by the moderator, and completes the usability testing on his/her own schedule.

Why is it needed? Companies build software and other products for consumer to use. Creating a successful end-user product means that the product must be easy to use for the end user. If it is not user-friendly, then users may not be as inclined to use, buy or refer a product or software application. One of the ways in which companies can ensure to bring to market user-friendly products is to do usability testing (they can and should also bring in a usability expert during the product creation phase to design the user interface).

When should it be implemented? In a perfect world, usability testing is done throughout the development cycle of a product or application. Early on, testing can be done using a simple prototype, or even paper prototypes (wireframes and sketches) if no implementation is available yet.

At a minimum, usability testing should be done once the completed application is available but before it is sold to and used by paid customers. Since usability testing often discovers issues with the current implementation, enough time should be left in the development cycle to fix at least the small and most obvious issues (i.e. the low-hanging fruit), while more complex issues could be deferred to a first maintenance release.

Who needs it? Every company who makes user-facing products needs usability testing in order to ensure that their product is user-friendly.

How is it executed? At uTest we focus on remote unmoderated usability testing. The usability expert reviews the existing product or application, and talks to the client to understand their pain points. The usability expert then compiles a survey that consists of a task plan that will be executed by each of the test participants. The usability expert also performs an expert review of the application. Once the test participants have completed the surveys, the usability expert analyzes the data and compiles a results report that includes the aggregated results of the surveys along with suggestions for enhancements and changes.