Usability testing is the practice of testing how easy a design is to use with a group of representative users. Through usability testing, you can identify any friction points or usability problems within your website or app before it goes live.
According to study by Forrester Research, it was found that the companies that implement usability testing early in the development process experience a 50% reduction in maintenance costs and a 60% increase in development speed.
As many businesses don’t plan properly as they test too early, choose the wrong participants or choose the wrong Usability testing method. As a result, in this article we will provide you with a structured approach for planning and execution so by following the steps of the usability testing plan you can uncover usability problems early and make data driven design decisions. For example, Gymshark refined its mobile checkout process through usability testing which leads to an 11% increase in completed purchases.
A product or system with bugs or usability issues can lead to user migration as soon as there’s a comparable product in the market.
Whether you’re launching a new product or refining an existing one, through a well planned usability testing you can improve user satisfaction, increase conversion rates and it will help your design meet user needs effectively.
What is a Usability Testing Plan?
A proper usability testing plan includes several key statistics to guide the process. A usability test plan helps you to define clear goals and objectives for testing, identify who your target audience is, and specify how you will recruit them. During the planning stage, you will also decide on the testing methods you will use, the scenarios and tasks you will give your participants, and the success criteria.
A well-planned usability test delivers better results than one without defined goals, metrics, and methods as it ensures that the testing process is organized, focused, and effective which leads to actionable insights that improve the overall user experience.
How to plan and execute Usability Testing plan
A usability testing plan is a framework for your research. It specifies the goals you want to achieve through the study and outlines the testing methods. It lists the tasks that the test participants have to complete. Without a usability test plan, you’ll be doing UX testing blindly, which is never a good idea whereas, an effective usability test plan will help you focus your research and communicate your findings to your team.
5 Important key tips for Usability testing plan:
By following the tips below, you can create comprehensive usability tests that will yield useful insights and help you optimize your product for the needs of the users.Let’s look at some of the best tips:
1. Define Goals & Objectives:
It is the most important strategy in usability testing as by setting a clear and specific objective you will get to know what you are trying to achieve when conducting usability testing. As this can help guide your testing method, the number of participants to recruit, and how to analyze your findings.
As at the end of the study you usually have tons of data to go through. It may seem frustrating at first, but not when you know what to focus on and it becomes easier to analyze your usability testing results, pinpoint the problems and to look for solutions which increase conversion rates.
But before setting an objective it’s important to ask yourself why you’re conducting this research and also make sure to keep your objective clear and simple as the more complex it is, the more difficult it will be to test and analyze the results. Like ask yourself “What aspects of the product do you want to test?”
2. Choose the right Usability testing method:
It is important to choose the method based on your goals, budget, and timeline as different methods fit different needs and each method has its own strengths and weaknesses. To choose the right usability testing method consider the following factors:
- Moderated or Unmoderated testing:
Moderated usability testing involves real time observation either in person or remotely where a moderator can ask questions and guide the participant like on skype or google hangouts by asking them to share their screen and then by seeing how they interact with the product. It is helpful to uncover user motivations, frustrations, and thought processes as moderators can ask “Why did you do that” in real time.
For example, Airbnb noticed that many users were struggling to find and apply search filters effectively so they conducted moderated usability testing, where a facilitator observed participants using the filter system while asking follow up questions.
Whereas, In Unmoderated usability testing users complete the tasks independently without moderator. This method captures natural interactions but lacks real-time feedback but in this data can be collected and analyzed quickly.
For example, ASOS noticed high cart abandonment rates and suspected usability issues in their checkout flow so they conducted unmoderated usability testing where users were asked to complete a purchase. And it was found that some users hesitated due to unclear shipping costs and the majority found the payment process too lengthy.
- Remote or in person testing:
Remote usability testing allows users to participate from their own environment, typically using software to record their screen and voice as they interact with your products like Zoom. It is cost effective and provides real life context, but can make it harder to control environment-based biases.
For example, A SaaS company launching a new dashboard feature uses UserTesting to collect feedback from remote users. Participants complete assigned tasks, and their screen interactions and voice feedback are recorded for analysis.
Whereas, in person usability testing is done physically as users interact with the product and researchers observe and ask follow up questions and it takes participants out of their natural environment, but gives you more control over the testing conditions and it is a great way to understand user behaviour but its not always possible as well as it is very time consuming.
For example, A coffee shop tests a new self service kiosk by inviting 5 customers to place an order while a researcher observed navigation issues, ordering time, and user confusion. Afterward, customers shared their feedback which led to menu simplifications and larger buttons for better usability.
If you’re testing a car then it is obvious to do in-person testing whereas if you are looking to research with people from multiple countries, this lends itself to remote testing.
3. Choose the right tool:
There are so many tools that you can use for testing, let’s look at some of them:
- Validately: It is a testing tool that helps you collect user feedback on websites, apps or prototypes. With validately, you have to choose any 1 moderated or unmoderated testing then to test a product add your website link after that testers will receive a URL to take the test or join a moderated session. After the session, you’ll receive qualitative data.
- Look back: This allows for both remote live moderated testing and unmoderated testing also it allows teams to collaborate ok recorded user sessions this tool is best for capturing in depth interactions with the user.
- User testing: It allows for easy remote usability testing. It helps identify usability issues, understand user behavior and improve overall user experience. For example, Companies like Amazon, Airbnb, and Google heavily rely on user testing to optimize their digital experiences. Whether testing a new feature, website redesign, or mobile app, gathering real user insights is crucial for delivering a seamless and intuitive experience.
- Maze: It helps product teams and designers in getting feedback from customers on prototypes before they go into development. It tracks click patterns, navigation flows, and success rates while letting users finish tasks on interactive designs. Maze can reveal important insights into user behavior and interface effectiveness. For example, A fintech startup designed a new mobile banking app by using Maze to test their account setup process. They created a prototype in Figma and asked users to complete tasks like “Find where to add a new beneficiary”. Maze records clicks, time taken, and drop-off points which helped the team identify confusing steps and improve the design before development.
4. Recruit the participants:
First of all, it’s important to make a recruitment plan in which you have to understand that how many people you need but it depends on your goal and the chosen user research method then you have to think that either you want to work with people you already know, like your team members or you want someone from outside your organization and if you are recruiting from outside then you should consider some factors like demographics (age, gender etc), interests, preferences and relevant experience and ensure that the participants are representative of your actual user base to gather meaningful and actionable insights and it will help you to identify issues that your real users face.
Moreover, to recruit the participants all you have to do is provide the respondents with a link to the study and they can do remote testing. It can be sent in an email newsletter or shared using social media so this approach makes the process more flexible as participants can take part from overwhere. This method also allows for easy tracking and scheduling which saves time and resources.
5. Analyse your results:
As you will have a lot of data after a successful usability evaluation study, now it’s time for analysis to draw conclusions and find actionable insights. If you have a clear goal then it is the easiest part in the usability testing.
You can use statistical methods to analyze results. You can consider averages, standard deviation, and confidence intervals for a comprehensive understanding. Also it includes Qualitative data like users comments and quantitative data like how much time spent on a task.
The goal is to uncover patterns, user struggles, and insights that guide design decisions. By uncovering the pain points it increases the conversion rates by addressing user struggles early which can save cost of costly redesigns.
For example, In a mobile app usability test, users are asked to complete the task of creating an account. After analyzing the results, you might discover that 40% of users struggled with the registration form, taking longer than expected or abandoning the task. By reviewing session recordings, you identify that the “password strength” indicator was unclear to users, causing confusion so this helped in identifying user friction and changes in design.
However, a well planned usability testing reduces the mental load of conducting usability testing as having the process written out in front of you makes it easier to identify what needs to be done and ensures all team members are on the same thing also, it enables you to identify issues before they occur which saves time and money. By setting clear objectives, choosing the right testing method, recruiting relevant participants, and analyzing results effectively, you can create a seamless user experience.
So it’s important to plan for Usability as if you don’t have a plan then it is a waste of time and resources and you risk releasing a product that does not meet customer needs or expectations. Studies show that 88% of online users won’t return to a website after a bad experience (Sweor).
Ready to enhance your product’s usability? Start planning your usability test today and make data-driven design decisions!
