Businesses can gain a lot from usability testing — when it’s done well. One way to maximize return on investment is to create a usability test plan that outlines the parameters of the study. With a software usability test plan in place, UX researchers can build in the time and resources they need for the study, while also accounting for the flexibility to probe deeper in questioning.
Each usability test plan will vary depending on the product, the intended audience, the stage of product development and what the organization wants to learn from the process. It is important to approach usability testing with some adaptability to optimize the feedback.
To explain how to conduct usability testing, we’ll start with a simple checklist, then explain each stage of the process.
Usability testing checklist
While not all approaches are alike, here is a usability testing checklist that accounts for most types of studies:
Usability Testing ChecklistFollow along with this usability testing checklist to make the most of your investment.Choose the product or functionality for assessment0102Define the participant’s tasksCraft a guide (moderated) or script (unmoderated)0304Determine roles and responsibilities05
Recruit participants06Prepare materials and the environment07Execute usability testing08Analyze results against success criteria09Compile a report10Create a strategy based on the findings
Let’s break down this usability test plan step by step to explain how UX researchers go about their work.
Stages of a usability test plan
There are many phases of a usability test, all of which help optimize the feedback that produce actionable results. Consider each step carefully as you progress through usability test planning and execution.
1. Choose the product or functionality for assessment
The scope of work helps keep the study and its participants on task. Determine which product, app, site or platform — or part of any of those — the participant will assess, and identify what feedback you hope to receive from usability testing. Perhaps there is a hypothesis you want to confirm, or a workflow you want to assess. These are all factors to keep in mind as you define what you want to measure with usability testing.
2. Define the participant’s tasks
Rather than jotting down a to-do list for participants, think about what general goals or objectives the product’s users will have. Build out your list of assignments, or tasks, from there. Ideally, tasks should be realistic, actionable and specific, yet without leading the participant too heavily toward a particular action. The goal is to observe how a participant chooses to perform the task and what difficulties they face during it.
3. Craft a guide (moderated) or script (unmoderated)
If your usability test plan includes a moderator, write a guide that keeps the study consistent for all participants and avoids any unintended bias. The moderator typically also introduces the product, which includes some background, the participant’s knowledge or impression of any existing products, and what they will be expected to accomplish during testing. A guide should keep the moderated test on track for the sake of consistency, but can also enable some flexibility to investigate interesting areas when they come up. A script is helpful for unmoderated usability testing to make the instructions as clear as possible for the participant — deviation here isn’t ideal.
4. Determine roles and responsibilities
Who on the team makes the most sense to moderate a usability test? Typically, you want an individual that can stay on task while also being personable and engaging with the participant. The more comfortable the participant feels, the more they can engage with the product naturally — and the more the moderator can elicit helpful information. Likewise, the organization might employ a separate note-taker for usability testing — someone who has great attention to detail. However, this role isn’t necessary, as sessions are often recorded and researchers can take their own notes.
5. Recruit participants
Recruitment will vary depending on the usability testing method. In most usability test plans, you will want to screen and vet participants. It can be a difficult task to find adequate representatives for your user base. Create personas that detail the intentions, desires and concerns of your users, then recruit based on those personas. The number of participants might also vary. Organizations typically use incentives, such as gift cards, to help with recruitment.
6. Prepare materials and the environment
Once you have participants, determine how and where they will conduct the test. Materials include criteria such as devices, as well as the product and any access restrictions you want to put in place. Also, implement any software or hardware you will need to record the test, such as video cameras or a screen-sharing app. Determine whether the usability testing benefits more from a controlled, albeit comfortable environment or a natural environment, where participants would typically use the product.
7. Execute usability testing
It is time to test. Keep in mind that any struggles the participant runs into can be useful feedback, so do not rush to help unless there is an issue with the instruction itself. Ask the participant a variety of questions after each task to get their immediate reaction to the product functionality. A moderator can also use a variety of tactics, such as a blink test or expectancy test, to generate instant feedback from the participant.
8. Analyze results against success criteria
When conducted correctly, the usability testing plan reveals a treasure trove of data — equally useful and hard to sort through. Take the time to assess common threads among participants, such as tasks that took a long time to complete, common errors, the severity of some tasks versus others, and areas or functionality that users didn’t enjoy. Patterns of behavior, difficulty or sentiment will reveal a lot about the product.
9. Compile a report
With data analysis complete, UX researchers often — though not in all cases — put together a usability testing report that includes a summary of the testing, the methods or tactics used, testing results, and recommendations for improvement with different levels of severity. The goal of the usability testing report is to make it clear how the testing was done, so that it can be repeated if necessary, and to convince stakeholders that the participant findings are significant enough to act upon.
10. Create a strategy based on the findings
Stakeholders determine when actions must be taken based on the usability testing report. The findings from usability testing guide stakeholders to prioritize and fix critical issues that make it impossible or extremely difficult to complete core tasks. If stakeholders determine there are higher-priority initiatives, they might place issues that cause friction or annoyance into the product backlog rather than act upon them right away.
The organization can also approach usability testing in an iterative manner. In this case, it might conduct usability tests early in the SDLC for a few small, simple tasks, and make fixes before launch. This enables the organization to learn granular pieces of information about the product as they build it.
Keep track of the participants the organization uses. It might be helpful to go back to them for more usability tests later, perhaps more complex, time-consuming tests.
https://www.applause.com/blog/how-to-usability-test-plan-checklist