What is Usability testing?
Usability testing is testing method for measuring how easy and user-friendly a digital product is. The tests take place with real users to measure how “Usable” and how “intuitive” digital product is, and how easy is for users to reach their goals. Testing is recommended during the initial design phase.
''It’s about catching customers in the act, and providing highly relevant and highly contextual information.''
– Paul Maritz, CEO at Pivotal
Why is usability testing important?
During usability testing, you can find design flaws you might otherwise overlook. Usability testing is providing insights on how users behave using your digital products, and how well your design works. Having a chance to test your UI and UX before launching a product, and making “fine-tuning” adjustments is guaranteeing success once the product goes live.
In plain English, usability testing is about finding a group of real people, similar to potential users of your app or website, and then having them test it out in various ways.
Only 53% of consumers feel that brands meet their expectations for user experience, but 87% of companies think they are delivering the goods.
This gap highlights a common problem with developing new products or updating existing ones: The product team doesn’t have a realistic impression of the user experience of their product.
Because the developers, designers, and product managers can’t unlearn what they know about the product and often have a very different background than their target market, they can’t make an objective evaluation of what they’re offering.
That’s where usability testing comes in. It puts your product in front of real people from your target market. You get to see first-hand what their experience looks like, and what they think about your product.
UX tests highlight potential issues with your app/website and will confirm or deny your existing assumptions and theories. You can quickly iron out issues in vital flows like signup, checkout, or onboarding.
The end result is a user experience that not just meets but exceeds the expectations of your ideal customers.
