Why UX designers don’t test enough – and why that needs to change
A day in a UX designer’s life is rarely bereft of something to do. Whether you are brainstorming approaches for new features, tweaking existing designs or simply going from task to task in the weekly sprint on the scrum board, chances are you are not spending a lot of your time user testing.
And there are lots of reasons for that.
Designers are more than producers…
Why do we do this? A reminder…
I’ve had a lot of roles where there was a lot of pushback against testing, because finding time to test always conflicted with time to produce. This is where we need to assert the nature of the particular role we have and take into account the less visible, more scientifically based nature of the job.
This is where the scientist experiments, learns and evolves theories based on data and testing. We need to be allowed the same freedom and understanding in our roles, with all stakeholders knowing that this is not a nice-to-have, but an essential element to product development.
There will be certain clients you will work with who will not have large budgets for user testing. There will be clients, under pressure from stakeholders to deliver promised features, who will prefer to see their money spent on development rather than testing. There will also be some clients who don’t see the benefit in the time/money spent on doing this. It’s up to us to educate them.
At the end of the day, we know what the right thing to do is. Our mission is to serve the users and so even if there is no emphasis on it from the powers that be (more likely, the powers that pay) then we need to take the responsibility to ensure that the products we bring to life are tested. Pure and simple.
Why do we do this? A reminder…
Validate business assumptions
- This is your winning argument when selling the testing process to stakeholders. We need to ensure key business assumptions are validated before taking the leap and building something that doesn’t achieve the business objectives.
Gauge public opinion
- This is about not being precious about your design work, as well as your client’s concept – The users should be shaping the product. We need people to use it and provide feedback so we can identify any stumbling blocks we may not have realised were there, as well as whether it does what it’s meant to do in a straightforward and enjoyable way.
Decide on next steps
- User testing is critical to deciding the direction of the next round of funding, the next features to focus on, or indeed whether the product continues at all. With user testing at all stages, early, middle and post, we ensure we are using resources wisely because we are always making the most informed choices at the time.
Fighting resistance – how to get stakeholder buy-in for user testing
It is our job as UX-ers to ensure that the UX side of our titles is acted upon.
If the client doesn’t understand it, it is up to us to make the case for it, and if there is no budget, do it on the cheap. Necessity is the mother of invention and imagination is our greatest asset. Take it as a challenge and don’t sit on your laurels. Get up and make it happen.
But first things first, be practical:
Ask the client why they are resistant to testing
- The first and most sensible thing you can do. Maybe your client has had a bad experience with testing in the past; maybe they are afraid of losing face with low-fidelity designs shown to users; maybe they don’t have a budget for it.
- Find out their concerns, address them and sell the clear benefits of the process and all the ways it can be done, many of which are free.
Take the lead in organising testing sessions
- Getting buy-in for face-to-face user testing sessions is a massive win. They can be as complicated or simple as you want them to be. The critical thing is that they’re well organised, not disruptive, particularly to your client or host.
- Send your user screeners for pre-testing, have your list of users and time slots prepped, and brief your client on what they can expect on the day.
- Ensure privacy, internet connection, and an assistant if necessary.
- Whether you’re on site in a client’s office, or working remotely, have your day planned out to a T, with contingency plans for everything.
Use one, or a few, analytics platforms.
- From the moment you go live, you should be tracking your product’s usability and uptake. GA4 is an essential, but services like MixPanel and FullStory are also worth considering to get even more insight. GA4 is free and provides incredible insights that help you easily identify the areas you need to develop and consider, while also allowing you to track user uptake and follow-through. The analytics and metrics element of GA will also be more likely to appeal to data-driven stakeholders than user sentiment and feedback.
Use free online resources.
- There is a myriad of online tools and testing platforms you can use to get quick options without subscribing to large packages. For example, SurveyMonkey’s free plan, which allows you unlimited surveys and 10 questions per survey,y enables you to gather fast feedback from focus groups without having to go overboard on costs.
Guerilla testing
- This form of testing involves going out into the public and approaching potential users to test your prototypes or answer surveys. This can be incentivised or not — Maybe paying for someone’s coffee in return for five minutes of their time, or simply an honest approach asking if they would be interested in helping to develop an up-and-coming product.
- Done properly, with appropriate respect for the tester, both in terms of time and participation, this is a great quick-fire way to gain immediate feedback.
Use your colleagues
- Don’t have access to a user tester network? Use the people around you, ensuring they don’t have a direct connection to the project you’re working on.
- Even if they are not strictly the target users of the product, any testing is better than none – insight is insight at the end of the day, and the feedback from someone completely disconnected from the project will be very valuable.
Why you should prototype and test every feature as you go
Aside from getting clients on board for testing, you should really be prototyping as you go; it’s just a good idea. As you design, prototype each feature or user journey and test as soon as you can with whoever you can.
This has benefits for multiple reasons:
Testing individual user journeys reduces the need for full scope testing
- User testing left until the end of development ultimately creates more work for us, as we need to test all features in either one sitting or condensed periods, which tends to tire testers and reduce the quality of their feedback, since they need to cover so much ground in one session.
Demoing to developers is easier and more effective
- In terms of working with developers, I always found it much faster and more efficient to show my work in a prototype because, as we went through it, we would discuss and chat through potential issues together, ultimately speeding up my iteration process with clearer insights into how to improve. I thoroughly recommend this approach to any designer.
Any feedback is good feedback.
- Whether you’re doing this using branded, high-fidelity designs or black-and-white wireframes, do it. Don’t wait for them to achieve a certain level of perfection before you test; let them go. It is up to you to get the feature to the public in a way they can consume as they would expect, note the reactions, hesitancies, and general impressions, and write these up for stakeholders and developers as validated evidence to inform design decisions.
Prototypes make amazing sales tools.
- With existing prototypes, you have ready-made assets for clients.
- Whether they use the actual prototype or a simple QuickTime screen recording of you using the prototype, having this asset makes presenting to stakeholders and potential investors so much easier and impactful. At the end of the day, the visual sells everything.
How to report user testing findings to stakeholders
Facts are facts and clients are more likely to respond to documented evidence proving your points as opposed to untested assumptions made by team members.
Testing, even simple testing using black and white wireframes, or paper prototypes, enables bias to be taken out of the equation, making it very easy to accept feedback and move on, in an informed manner.
This is where following up on testing sessions with comprehensive reports that lay out the main takeaways straight away and clearly define next steps is essential. This is where you get to show another side of your skill set, critically analysing the data and feedback and prioritising changes that will move the product in the right direction.
This is an empowering moment in the build-measure-learn loop,p as you are really taking point in steering the project at this stage and providing the validation needed to reach the end goal. It is one of the most critical elements of your role, so assert it, embrace it.
Enjoy the scientific side of UX and test every single scribble.
User testing as a competitive advantage in product and experience design
At Elemental Concept, UX research and user testing are built into how we approach every product and experience design engagement – not as an afterthought, but as the foundation that makes design decisions defensible. Find out more about our UX research and design services.
