User Testing

What you have so far:

- A name
- A short explanation of your app
- A list of the problems your users are trying to solve
- Your reason for doing this
- A list of users that we will target
- A persona (based on user needs) for our first set of users
- A user journey map for our first users
- A list of assumptions and ways to de-risk those assumptions
- A short description of your MRP
- Feature Sets (v1, v2, icebox)
- A list of your competitors
- A list of keywords and searches your customers might use
- A chart showing which problems your competitors solve and how well they solve them
- A list of table stakes jobs
- Your USP 
- A list of User Groups
- A list of User Stories  (v1, v2, icebox)
- A list and screenshots of inspiration sites, screens and features (with notes)
- A list of all the pages/screens for your app
- A list of all the functionality that is required on each screen with importance values

Objectives

• Test our prototype with 5 users
• Get actionable feedback

Tasks

1. Find Testers
2. Run User Tests
3. Gather and Analyze your data

Tasks (with instructions)

1. Find Testers

It’s best if you can do this locally. Think about your initial users and where you can find them.

There are a few places to find testers: meetup, facebook groups, craigslist are among the best I’ve found. Coworking spaces are also a good option if you have access to one, but those users might not reflect your target users.

Meetup is a great place to start since these are local people, generally tech savvy, and segmented by their interests.

Here is an example of a post you might make:

“Hi, I’m attending on Monday and have an app prototype that I’d like to test with real life users. The app helps you ___. If you have 5-10 minutes to spare before or after the meetup, I would really appreciate that. I’m just looking for 3-5 people to test with! Thanks”

2. Run User Tests

There are two ways to run user tests: open ended and guided. I like to start with open ended tests (generally the prototypes have limited functionality and we’re not trying to optimize the functionality, just see if it resonates with the user).

When running an open user test, you might want to have a list of “actions” or “paths” that you want to make sure the user goes down. It’s helpful to have these written down for yourself, but do not show them to the participant.

You may want to record your user tests, or just to take notes.

Start the user test by asking the participant about themselves. Try to ask questions about their past that are relevant to the app you are testing, but don’t give too much away about what the app does. You want to understand their mindset, and to create an open, easy atmosphere. This can be difficult the first few times since you’ll have some nerves, so try to keep it cordial and don’t be too stressed about everything going perfectly. You’re trying to learn, which is the important part.

Hand the device to the user with your invision mock ready.

“I’m going to watch you use the app, so feel free to explore and use it as you would a regular app. If you can, voice out loud any thoughts in your head or questions you have as you are using the app. Once you’re done, just let me know. If you don’t know what to do at a certain stage, just click anywhere and blue boxes will highlight potential actions“

Do not say anything until they are done. Watch their reactions and where they pause.

Once they are done:

If they don’t complete an action you were expecting them to, ask them to try to complete that specific action.

Once they complete that question, you can ask them some questions. The goal here should be to prove that your prototype is wrong. You want to find all of the assumptions you’ve made in your process and to understand how a regular user will see your app and how it fits into their lifestyle.

Open-ended questions are best, like “now that you’ve gone through the app, what do you think?”

Don’t make assumptions, be sure to ask them why they feel a certain way or if this solution is something they would use, or if they currently have a solution for the problem you’re solving. Talk to them about their current processes and try to find out how this would fit in with that.

If they are interested in the app, ask them how you can get other people like them to try the app. Try to understand where they hang out, offline and online.

You’ll want to build off of each user test going into the next one, but wait until the end of the process. At the very end of each user test, you should ask open-ended questions around issues that earlier participants brought up.

3. Gather and Analyze your data

What are common issues users faced?

Were users able to find the central path you wanted them to take? Or were they interested in something else?

What were your key takeaways?

Once you’ve gathered all your feedback in one place, you’ll want to make it actionable. We have to remember that it’s always easier to change course early in the process, so we want to challenge our assumptions early.

Outputs

• User feedback