What is usability testing?

Usability testing is a precise diagnostic tool providing rich information about when and where users experience problems. This form of testing has representative users performing representative tasks with the product under study. Through creating structured interactions by multiple users (particularly new users) with the product or website, usability testing elicits as wide a range of paths for error as possible. Test participants with an appropriate level of naivete about the product can provide insights about simple usability glitches that often won't be found any other way. Click here for more information about this methodology. Or click here to download a PDF version.

What can I apply it to?

Any product that has a functioning prototype or better. Usability testing can be performed on almost any product that a human can interact with. In computer products, usability testing is most useful for identifying surface problems which can be fixed with changes to visual appearance and interaction techniques. Often trained facilitators can recommend fixes to these types of problems on the basis of the usability testing data. Usability testing is not good at producing fixes for information architecture problems. The data that usability testing generates does not usually clarify which changes would best fix the problem once it is identified.

Usability testing that tests a single product is called non-comparative. Likewise, we can do comparative usability testing that tests two or more products and compares them to each other. Comparative testing is sometimes also referred to as benchmarking. This is a good way to determine how your product's ease of use stacks up against its competitors'.

How much does it cost?

A typical non-comparative usability test costs $18,000 and up, and takes 3 - 6 weeks. These numbers will vary depending upon the number of participants and the design of the study. For a customized proposal and quote, please contact us.

What do I get?

A final report that details our findings, identifies problems, and recommends fixes to those problems. Problems will be categorized according to severity, and fixes will be categorized according to difficulty.

Where does it fit into the design process?

Near the end, after a functional prototype (or better) has been created. Usability testing adds the most value if it is repeated after changes are prototyped based on the first round of usability testing data. This process is referred to as iterative testing.