Usability Testing

Working with our clients, we design and facilitate custom usability tests where typical users perform common tasks with a product or prototype. Most tests require only 5 - 8 participants in a market segment to yield valid results. We recruit participants based on a screener developed with our client. We facilitate and record the sessions, analyze the data, and report on the strengths and weaknesses of the product. We also make recommendations to fix the most important usability problems found during the testing.

Most tests take place in one of our state-of-the-art usability labs and we invite our clients to come and watch the test sessions. However, we have also conduct usability tests in the field, at rented facilities across North America, and remotely using web conferencing tools.

Benefits

• Provides feedback and recommendations based on data from real users.
• Shows the problems that are repeated across several users.
• Produces recordings of what users actually say about interacting with the product.

Limitations

• Requires careful planning and preparation.
• Requires focusing on your most important market segments.
• Unlikely to uncover violations of internal user-interface standards.

Results

• Usability test report including:
  
  • Executive Summary
  • Methodology
  • Usability issues with their severity ratings
  • Suggested design improvements with their priority for redesign
• Presentation of the usability test and its findings.

Timing

2 - 3 weeks from setting objectives to reporting results.

Recent examples

• We conducted a series of usability tests for a major credit card company. The client is revising their product based on our recommendations.
• We conducted iterative usability testing of the Volkswagen website.
• We traveled to Washington, DC to conduct a usability test of the Amtrak website.
• We conducted a usability test of a clinical product remotely with users in Europe.