Basics of user testing
Once you have created the digital project, you will need to assess whether the site accomplishes the plans and goals you drew up. Ask several people from one of your intended audiences to use your digital project. If your personas were based on living people, consider asking one of them to test out your site.
When the person comes to test your site, sit beside them with a notepad. Ask the person to describe what they are doing and thinking. (Sometimes we call this a “think aloud usability test.”) That is, they should say their thoughts aloud as they move through the interface, navigation, and site features. While they do, don’t interrupt. Let the stream of their words continue. If they trail off, prompt them with an open-ended question, such as “what do you see?” or “what are you thinking right now?”
A think-aloud/usability study needs only a few steps steps:
- Recruit representative people.
- Give them representative, general tasks to perform. “Try the site out!”
- Shut up and let people do the talking.
- Take lots of notes while the person uses the site. Note what they notice, comment on, or find confusing.
- After the session, use your notes to explore how to re-design aspects to advance things that work or refine points of confusion.
More open-ended questions:
- What do you make of this?
- What would you do here?
- How would you do [that]?