Usability Testing – UX Research

1. The Activity

The activity typically involves recruiting participants who match the product’s target audience and asking them to complete specific tasks while being observed and recorded by a moderator. The moderator may ask participants questions about their experience and note any usability issues or pain points.

2. Time required

2-8 weeks. The timing of UX usability testing can vary depending on the number of participants, the type of testing, and the complexity of the product. Recruiting and incentivising ideal participants requires time before the testing can commence.

Once ready, the tests typically take 1-2 hours of preparation per test and anywhere from 1-2 hours per participant tested and several hours for the synthesis of findings.

3. What you receive

The output of UX usability testing is an informative report and data that includes user behaviour, comments, and feedback. This information can be used by designers and developers to identify areas of improvement, prioritise design changes, and validate assumptions made during the design process. The output can also be used to create personas, journey maps, and other design artifacts.

4. How to use a Usability Testing report

Designers and developers can analyse the data and create a list of actionable insights. These insights can be used to make improvements to the product’s design and inform future iterations. For example, if users had difficulty navigating a particular section of a website, the team could redesign that section to make it more intuitive and user-friendly.

5. The Benefit

The benefits of UX usability testing include increased customer satisfaction, improved user engagement, reduced development costs, and better product performance. By testing with real users, teams can gain insights that they might not have otherwise discovered, resulting in a product that better meets user needs.

6. Approximate cost

Can range from $5,000 to >$20,000. The cost of UX usability testing can vary depending on the number of participants, the type of testing, and the complexity of the product. However, it is often less expensive than the cost of fixing usability issues after a product has been launched. Approximate costs range from a few hundred to several thousand dollars, depending on the level of complexity and the number of participants.