The goal of user testing, also known as user validation, is to understand how users experience certain products or services. The usability of products and services can be validated at any stage in the design process. This method can be particularly useful for evaluating the usability of concepts, prototypes, physical or software products, and service offerings of an organization.
Quick details: User Testing/ Validation
Structure: Structured
Preparation: Test environment, Test subject, Respondent recruitment, Recording tools
Deliverables: Recordings, Transcripts, Notes, Documentation, Charts
More about User Testing or Validation
The primary question that user-testing answers is whether the user encounters any issues when interacting with an unfinished or finished product or service. What is the utility that a user sees in the product or service? Is the user journey seamless or full of disruptions? Does the product or service fill a market gap?
User testing is a great way of getting user feedback firsthand and allows the researcher to take quick action to improve.
User testing methods utilized can be split based on the stage in the project when it is conducted – discovery stage testing, user research stage testing, and strategy and design stage testing.
| Method | Purpose | Advantages | Disadvantages |
| Discovery Stage | To determine where effort should be focused. |
| Time spent could be on a lot of pointless and regular ideas which shouldn’t be pursued. |
| Concept stage | Unconventional user research. | User testing at this stage can provide a quick and easy way to place an existing product in front of a wide range of possible user types. |
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| Strategy & Design Stage | To test prototypes and complex flows. |
| Incorporating solutions or design changes at this stage could be time consuming and would require an overhaul of existing design. |
Advantages of User Testing or Validation
1. Feedback
Getting feedback helps designers validate their efforts on a project.
2. Next Steps
Data collected can guide the next steps to be taken to improve the product or service.
3. Benchmark against existing products
Data collected can help to evaluate the product features or the service being offered against similar and competitive offerings in the market.
4. Identify missed issues
Issues that may have been overlooked during the other stages of the project can be captured through user testing.
5. Online Tools
Through online tools a large sample can be considered for user testing. The data gathered can also be analyzed quickly and with relative ease.
Disadvantages of User Testing or Validation
1. User time commitment
If the users do not give sufficient time for feedback or to test, then the system or product can be off from what the user requirement is.
2. Scope of the project
If the scope of the project is large, then user testing may result in a large amount of diverse data that may be difficult to collate and analyze.
Think Design's recommendation
Let’s say this with conviction: no design project is complete without thorough user testing and validation. Without employing this in at least one of your steps, you would be running a very high risk of poor adoption or complete rejection.
However, when to employ user testing methods and how is a more important question here. We will point to three broad areas here:
User Testing before design
Do this if you want users to respond to your ideas, concepts or your assumption of gaps. In many cases, it is also employed while redesigning a product/ service in order to set a baseline before redesign.
User Testing during design
Do this if you want to test your design before investing in building it or wish for one of the alternatives to be chosen during the user validation process. Play with various fidelities as per your objectives.
User testing post-design
Do this if you want to find users’ responses to the finished design. These responses are intended to guide the refinements for the next build. If you already conducted baseline research, testing at this stage will help in benchmarking the baseline and assessing the results of redesign against baseline benchmarks.