User Testing
Think of user testing as high-level workflow tests. While atomic components, such as copy on a button would be tested through A/B testing
- always let users drive the test. Instead of giving them imperative instructions (click here, enter your email here, then click here), give declarative tasks (create a piece of information for your repository)
- Be careful not to use any verbiage that is specific to the app when giving users your app
- ex. for Never Forget, don't use the words nugget and bucket, because it gives them insight that organic users won't have the benefit of. Try to use more neutral words, like category.
- As the user is going through your app, watch their face for signs of surprise or confusion, and question them on it. Make sure you understand why the user was feeling what they felt.
- Keep good data on this, because if you start to notice a pattern that occurs at expected areas of the app, then you know you have something that needs to be fixed.
- Parrot people as they tell you things, because it allows them to expand on the feelings that prompted those words.
- "I felt a little confused here" —"Oh, you felt confused here?"
- As they click on something, ask them how well it matched their expectations of what would happen when clicked on it.
- "was this the screen you were expecting to go to after clicking on that button?"
- Listen for the value gain that the user is suggesting, rather than the specific implementation of that feature.
- When people make suggestions, focus on the "why" behind those suggestions. Don't focus too much on the implementation of their suggestion. Instead, if you put attention on what goal they are trying to facilitate within their suggestion, then you can extract useful potential information regarding the subject that is receiving the suggestions
- ex. Say you have an airbnb like product, and while doing user testing, a user suggests having a back and forward button right on the photo, that takes you to the next property in the list. Maybe you disagree with the design decision of putting the arrows on the main image, but you are missing a valuable piece of feedback here: users may want to navigate more quickly between properties, and may want to do it right from a property page. Take that goal in mind, and devise your own solution for it. The solution could be an overall better navigation system, or just placing the forward/back buttons somewhere else on the page.
UX Research
- Everything to do with research can be placed on a grid by how qualitative/quantitative the feedback is, vs the origin of that feedback (what people say vs how they act)
- Qualitative methods are largely unstructured, tend to be subjective, are at the softer end of science, and are about establishing insights and theories (which we then test, often using quantitative approaches).
- are open-ended (“How might you improve this customer journey?”)
- Qualitative methods lead to insights
- Quantitative methods are largely: structured, tend to be objective, are at the harder — more measurable — end of science, and are about testing theories. They tend to be larger sample sizes and can be run in a more hands-off manner. With quantitative research, user behaviors and attitudes are gathered indirectly.
- tend to be yes/no (“Do you use this feature?”).
- quantitative methods allow you to test those insights brought by the qualitative methods.
A/B Testing
- Think of A/B testing as atomic tests. You want to test which copy on a button is better. Which color is better. Which location of the text is better. What you don't want to test is which workflow is better
- If you were to A/B test two different workflows, it would be impossible to know the precise reason that one outperformed the other. At the end of the day, you aren't really learning anything valuable.
Misc
There is a distinction between brainstorming and asking for feedback. When asking for feedback you need to clearly present a single idea. When you are brainstorming you are trying to come up with new ideas.
- Make sure all parties involved know what kind of conversation you are having.
UE Resources
Children