https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48dMCEDJ1gM

Usability testing is the practice of testing how easy a design is to use with a group of representative users. It usually involves observing users as they attempt to complete tasks and can be done for different types of designs. It is often conducted repeatedly, from early development until a product’s release.

“It’s about catching customers in the act, and providing highly relevant and highly contextual information.”

— Paul Maritz, CEO at Pivotal

Whenever you run a usability test, your chief objectives are to:

1. Determine whether testers can complete tasks successfully and independently.

2. Assess their performance and mental state as they try to complete tasks, to see how well your design works.

3. See how much users enjoy using it.

4. Identify problems and their severity.

5. Find solutions.

1) Assess user behaviour – Use these metrics:

Quantitative – time users take on a task, success and failure rates, effort (how many clicks users take, instances of confusion, etc.)

Qualitative – users’ stress responses (facial reactions, body-language changes, squinting, etc.), subjective satisfaction (which they give through a post-test questionnaire) and perceived level of effort/difficulty

2) Create a test report – Review video footage and analyse data. Clearly define design issues and best practices.

There are many variables in designing a modern user interface and there are even more variables in the human brain. The total number of combinations is huge. The only way to get UX design right is to test it.