Usability studies can seem daunting, especially if you have a small team, or you are a solo designer working on your passion project. Or, you and your partner have an amazing idea and are now in the design phase, but you don’t know how to test it.
Unlike big companies with entire market research departments and direct lines to research participants, resources are often limited when you work with a start-up or on your own project and it’s time to do your usability testing with a group of representative users.
Where to begin with this complex and necessary UX tool?
Don’t despair, UX has multiple tools at hand defining the methodology of a well-done usability study. These tools are user-friendly and accessible to everyone.
When you are ready to test your product with your chosen participants, you will have your lists of task prompts, your note-taking spreadsheets, your affinity mapping set-up, and your research insight patterns and prioritization list.
Defining the usability study tools
UX usability tools are in fact action item lists that you write out as you launch your usability study. While one is tempted to skip some items on the tools list, it’s better not to. Every tool defines the next level research data important to defining product design iterations.
So, it’s best to adhere to these 9 study tools and steps in this order. While these tools are customizable, they should be followed as is in a first round for best outcomes.
An overview of the necessary steps of a usability study
A flow chart illustrating the steps necessary to conduct a successful usability study. Each step is based on the one before and serves to define the one following, until insights can get prioritized for design iteration (step 10).
This chart highlights the 9 steps minimally necessary to conduct a successful usability study. Some of these will feel engaging and creative, others will feel difficult and hard-to-crack. But when done well, and even simply, the result will provide you with clear design action items for your next round of design iteration.
1. The project overview
The project overview launches the usability study. Important information on the project itself, the team, research questions, the research methodology used, the participants, and the task prompts are all written out on this list.
Step 1/Tool 1: The project overview serves to clearly outline what the product is about, who the owners and authors are, and what is intended and looked for in the usability study. Research questions are outlined, as well as KPIs, the methodology used, the parameters or the study participants, and lastly, the task prompts culled from the interview questions.
While the project overview lists the projects’ key makers and information about the project itself, it also summarized key research decisions made for usability study. An unmoderated study is often decided on when resources are sparse and participants might be scattered across the globe. A moderated study has a moderator who guides participants through the study in real time, and often, a second researchers taking notes.
Tasks prompted for the participant to perform depend on the research questions outlined for gathering data for a specific product feature or action.
2. The task prompts interviewing spreadsheet
This spreadsheet is usually set up in an Excel format that allows for column and row inputs. The study participant’s actions, such as the click path to perform the task prompt, researcher observations, participant quotes, and general task assessments are entered for each task and participant.
Step 2/Tool 2: This Excel-based spreadsheet serves to write down all task prompts, data points from participants, observations from the interviewer, participant quotes, and task completion assessments. Each participant gets one sheet of data entry, so this spreadsheet will at least contain 5 sheets, based on 5 participants.
This is how an actual spreadsheet might look like:
A template of a spreadsheet format for noting interview data, including the task list, click path stops, observations, quotes, and task completion metrics. This spreadsheet was formatted using a Google spreadsheet file.
3. The actual interview
The interview with the chosen participants can either be hosted by an interviewer at the company site, or in the field, or the participant can complete the task prompts in her/his own home or work space.
Step 3/Tool 3: Interviews are based on the task prompts defined in steps 1 + 2. Notes are taken by the interviewer, and assistant interviewer, as a recording, or as a recording of the unmoderated participant.
Pro tip: Refer to Understanding primary & secondary, quantitative & qualitative research methods in UX to learn more about moderated and unmoderated research studied.[1]
4. Note-taking (filling spreadsheet in №2)
Transfer your notes from the research interview to the spreadsheet set up before the interview. Each participant gets their own page. You may have taken notes on paper, recorded the session, or another attending researcher may have input the notes on a laptop during the interview.
If it’s an unmoderated study, and no one else is present during the study, then the contributor completes tasks and answers questions at their own pace, on their own time, at a time and location of their choosing.
Step 4/Tool 4: The note-taking spreadsheet is filled in as one page per participant.
5. Data analysis with affinity mapping
Data analysis is in most cases done with affinity mapping. Transfer each participant’s notes onto sticky sheets and put them on a surface together.
Step 5/Tool 5: The data gathered through the interviews and the note-taking activities is now transferred to sticky notes to set up affinity mapping. Each participant gets her/his own color in the sticky note setup.
Pro tip: Refer to Affinity mapping and why it is important in your UX strategy to read more about affinity mapping.[2]
6. Trends and themes analysis
Based on affinity mapping, reflecting all the data gathered from the interview spreadsheets, we can now define trends and topics.
Step 6/Tool 6: The sticky notes are now organized to identify topics and themes that have emerged from the interview data. They are group and circled according to each topic.
Pro tip: Refer to Why is affinity mapping in UX so difficult?-5 insights to make this powerful tool easy to use to read more about affinity mapping.[3]
7. Pattern identification list
In the pattern identification list, we gather the topics and themes from the affinity mapping analyses groups. Thus, we might declare, for instance, that 4 out of 5 participants, after making a purchase, wanted to access a ticket purchase history list.
Step 7/Tool 7: Each topic identified in step 6 can now be written out as a pattern identification statement. We can now quantify each statement with a number of participants input, such as ‘3 out of 5’, or, ‘5 out of 5’. Thus we can identify patterns of task completion.
8. Insights identification list
Insights identification renders the pattern identification into an actionable item. It takes the data gathered in the pattern identification items and translates it into an insight that can be applied in the next iteration.
Step 8/Tool 8: As the pattern identification statements have been established, insight identification statements can be written out.
9. Prioritizing insights for iteration
At last, the insights gain through data gathering can be ranked and prioritized. Insights that are supported by a majority of participants’ feedback should be given priority. Within prioritized insights, actionable iterations need to be ranked according to their impact on the overall usability of the product.
Step 9/Tool 9: As a last research analysis action, we can now prioritize insights according to their urgency and need. Insights that are a must in the next iteration are top priority design changes.
The pleasure of the next design iteration
With these 9 steps to identifying the top prioritized design change based on actual user feedback and data analysis will make to product more user-friendly and enjoyable.
Each step in a usability study supports what was done before, and what will need to be done next.
This methodology helps to reign in too much data, or random findings. When we conduct usability studies, we have a clear goal defined at the onset of the study, and clear findings that help us define what to iterate on.
The users will benefit in the end
Even though usability studies require time and/or money and lots of patience, and seem dauntingly difficult at times, they serve the process of design iteration.
Sometimes, it might be difficult to find enough participants to do your usability study with, so access your friends or family members. Remember, it’s better to do the study than not. So give it your best.
In summary
A usability study is powerful research methodology defining actionable design changes in iterations.
A usability study needs a clearly defined research goal at the onset of the study. It serves to define research questions and task prompts.
As many notes as possible need to be taken down while doing the interview, or better yet, record the interview session (with the participant’s agreement).
If it’s an unmoderated study, you will need to ask the participant to write down their observations in detail, and/or record their thoughts spoken out loud.
Try it in your next project.
Interested in learning more about UX design, trends, tools, tech insights and techniques? Join Medium with this link, and support my future writing endeavors on UX design.
Thank you! ✍️🧡
All illustrations ©Eva Schicker 2023.
UX Resources:
[1] Understanding primary & secondary, quantitative & qualitative research methods in UX: https://evaschicker2012.medium.com/understanding-primary-secondary-quantitative-qualitative-research-methods-in-ux-df3d1e327e7f?sk=cbafdc148d6eaefa494150fbc7219e8b
[2] Affinity mapping and why it is important in your UX strategy: https://medium.com/usabilitygeek/affinity-mapping-and-why-it-is-important-in-your-ux-strategy-322675234f9e?sk=0bd78f3eb2120273370349a025a159ff
[3] Why is affinity mapping in UX so difficult?: https://evaschicker2012.medium.com/why-is-affinity-mapping-in-ux-so-difficult-3e284c6cc227?sk=bb2ce31cc9202e05fc862eade940e137
