What You Need to Know About User Testing Part 1

User Experience

What is User Testing?

User testing is the process of evaluating a product's usability and effectiveness by gathering feedback from actual users. The goal of user testing is to identify issues or opportunities for improvement in a product's design or functionality and to gather insights into how users interact with the product.

There are several different methods that design teams can use to gather feedback and insights from users. By selecting the right type of user testing for their needs and goals, you can build products that are more user-friendly, efficient, and effective.

Why is User Testing Important?

User testing is crucial for ensuring products and services meet user needs and deliver positive experiences by identifying usability issues, validating assumptions, and improving overall user experience. Through real user feedback, businesses can optimize interfaces, increase conversion rates, save time and resources, and build trust and loyalty with customers. It's a proactive approach to product development that prioritizes user feedback and drives continuous improvement, ultimately leading to higher satisfaction and engagement.

Types of User Testing

Usability testing

Usability testing is a common type of user testing that involves observing users as they interact with a product and collecting feedback on the product's usability. Usability testing can be conducted in-person or remotely. It typically involves a moderator guiding users through a series of tasks and asking questions about their experience. The feedback collected during usability testing can help design teams identify areas where users are struggling or encountering issues with the product's design or functionality.

A/B testing

A/B testing is another type of user testing that involves presenting two variations of a product to different groups of users and comparing their responses. A/B testing can be used to test different versions of a product's design or functionality, such as different pricing plans or feature sets. By comparing user behavior and feedback across the two variations, designers can make data-driven decisions about which version to implement.

Remote User Testing

Remote user testing is a useful tool for testing products with a geographically dispersed user base as it allows design teams to gather feedback from users located anywhere in the world through video conferencing or online tools. Remote user testing can also be more cost-effective and efficient than in-person testing, as it eliminates the need for travel and other logistical expenses.

User Testing vs. Usability Testing

User testing and usability testing are two essential methods for evaluating the effectiveness of products or services, but they differ in their focus and scope. User testing involves observing real users as they interact with a product or service to understand their behavior, preferences, and needs, aiming to validate assumptions and improve overall user experience. On the other hand, usability testing specifically focuses on assessing the ease of use and efficiency of a product's interface by evaluating factors like navigation, accessibility, and task completion. While user testing provides insights into broader user behavior and satisfaction, usability testing hones in on specific interface elements to ensure a seamless and intuitive user experience.

‍

Getting Started: User Testing

With all that being said, you might be wondering how to get started. Here are the steps for conducting user testing for B2B SaaS products:

Step 1: Define your testing goals

Before starting the testing process, you should define the goals and objectives of your testing. Identify what you want to learn from the testing, what features you want to test, and what metrics you want to track. For usability tests, it is important to set up objective and subjective metrics, such as time on task, effort, number of errors, failure rate, as well as stress responses and confusions.

Step 2: Identify your user personas

Identify the different user personas for your product. These personas will help you recruit the right users for your testing sessions.
When identifying user personas, indicators such as age, gender, location, and income can provide valuable insights into the demographic characteristics of your target audience.

Step 3: Recruit participants

You can recruit participants through your customer base, professional networks, or maybe online user testing platforms such as UserTesting, or TryMyUI.

Make sure that your participants represent your user personas and have relevant experience using similar software products. As easy and attempting as it may be, a coworker or any random person down the hallway is unlikely to offer the kind of insight you are hoping for.

Step 4: Prepare the testing materials

Prepare the testing materials, such as scenarios, tasks, and questionnaires, that will be used during the testing sessions. Make sure that the materials are clear and concise, and go through try run beforehand to identify any potential issues.

Remember to also develop a testing script. A testing script will help ensure consistency in your testing process. It should include scenarios, tasks, and questions that will be used during the testing sessions.

Step 5: Conduct the testing sessions

Conduct the testing sessions either in-person or remotely, depending on your testing goals and budget. During the testing sessions, observe the participants as they interact with the product, and take notes on their feedback, behavior, and challenges.Make sure that the testing environment is comfortable and distraction-free. Provide any necessary equipment and ensure that the technology is working properly.

Encourage participants to verbalize their thoughts as they interact with your product. This will help you understand their reasoning and decision-making process.

Pay close attention to how participants interact with your product. Take detailed notes on their feedback, behavior, and challenges, especially ones that indicate their emotions and feelings.

Keep in mind

Keep in mind that the testing sessions need to be as objective as possible. Sometimes participants want to know if they are doing a good job, wonder if they get the right answers, or even ask for permission to move on to next tasks. When that happens, it's easy for a moderator to fall into these "emotional traps" by providing answers based on their own knowledge of the product. Instead, keep your cool and simply affirm the tester that they are helping to identify what you're looking for, there's no right or wrong answers, and they are free to move on at their own pace.

Launching a B2B SaaS product without conducting user testing can be a recipe for disaster. Without user testing, you risk developing a product that doesn't meet the needs of your users, which can lead to poor user experience, limited functionality, low adoption rates, negative feedback, and increased development costs. In today's highly competitive market, user testing is critical for B2B SaaS companies that want to build products that stand out while meeting the actual needs of their target audiences. To read more, check out Part 2.

Tacpoint, a digital product agency with 20+ years of experience, can help you build and design engaging B2B enterprise digital products.