logo
logo
Sign in

3 Reasons why Usability Testing is important

avatar
Apps Maven
3 Reasons why Usability Testing is important

A usability test is an important step which is carried out in order to understand and create a high-quality end product or services. Therefore, every big company when done with creating any products sends the final version for the usability test. It determines several things which could prove to be fruitful for the company. These results could prove to be feedback for the product of the company. Moreover, the company can improve the quality of the product and hence can provide a better quality of experience for the users. Therefore, it becomes a very important step in the process of product manufacturing, before every company. Most of the companies and startups take this step up seriously and follow it with every caution.

However, things get tricky when the question of the approach to usability testing comes into the picture. Companies get confused while deciding the way of testing usability. In this article, we would discuss about the three goals of the usability test,

Goal 1: To Discover Problems

What could be the first reason? Obviously it’s diagnosing the problem. Because the reason is very simple, if you want to get a solution to a particular problem, it is necessary for us to understand the problem and the prioritization of the solutions. Therefore, the very first aim of a usability test is to understand the usability problem or more precisely its discovery; then and then to set the priority of the solution.

So what could be the test? And if there are tests then what are the operators and operands?

Obviously the operators are the programs, and operands are the people or individuals. Moreover, the name of the test is Problem frequency. This test provides the data on the number of participants who have encountered any particular problem.

Next test is Problem severity. What does this mean? This gives the data on the impact of the problem on the participants.

However, despite being an important step, it isn’t considered as formal. It is considered as an informal step or study. Why?

It is because the main object of this study does not have any impact on the measurement of the participants. Therefore, there only remains a considerable amount of interaction between the observer or the person testing or writing the reports, and the participants.

A condition for this test is the limitation on the number of people participating. The restriction states that the number of participants should be fairly small. However, the number of iterations would be more than the people being summoned or in other words, there is a need for more than one test on considerably fewer subjects.

Are there any rules for iterations?

Yes, of course, there are some particular rules for the iteration, otherwise, how could one possibly set the validity of the standards of a particular data?

There is a rule which claims that Identify 90% of the problems experienced by the participants available for discovery. Also, identify all the possible problems for a particular set of tasks and conditions of use.

Goal 2: To Compare Against a Benchmark

First of all, what is the definition of a Benchmark?

Google defines it as such a standard point with reference to which measures could be considered more meaningful. Therefore, these benchmarks are used across many fields, which is indeed an important part of any test. Why?

Because if there would be no standards, and if the tests have even given the readings what would be the point of those tests? They couldn’t be considered as positive or negative.

There are studies which primarily focus on the comparison of the results with the quantitative benchmarks. What does it mean by quantitative benchmark? It means numerical targets. It basically involves two activities:-



      1. Development of the usability benchmarks, typically done for specific tasks (post-task metrics) and for the study (post-study metrics), as described below.




 



      1. Iterative testing to determine whether the product has exceeded the benchmarks.




 

We were talking about benchmarks since the beginning, but when are these benchmarks made?

They are set at the study or task level. There are various task metrics, they are:-



      • Successful task completion rates




 



      • Mean task completion times




 



      • Mean participant satisfaction/ease ratings




 

So, now we know what would be the first step of the process, it would be setting an appropriate benchmark. Moreover, it would be to determine whether the results are exceeding the benchmarks.

Goal 3: To Compare Against Another Interface

The third goal is to compare two or more interfaces. What do we mean by interfaces here? They could be anything and may include physical products, websites, mobile applications, or even software. The comparison could be with any kind of prior study.

These interfaces are compared on the basis of multiple task-level metrics, or study-level metrics. They can be compared to understand the effectiveness, efficiency, measure of use and ease. It is of very much importance and is widely used.

Metrics are used widely; they can be compared individually with different statistical tests, such as t-tests, 2-proportion tests, and confident intervals.

Interestingly, comparing multiple metrics simultaneously could prove to be more complicated. There could be multiple metrics consisting of data such as completion rates, time, and ease.

If you want to achieve statistical significance, one needs to keep the size of the samples large; such as dozens to hundreds. If you are keeping large differences between interfaces, one needs to keep the sample sizes small.

Unlike the very first step, this test would be more formal. It would be as informal as a problem-discovery study. However, the number of opportunities through which one can identify usability problems are many. Therefore, while studying competitors, it would always be a good idea to conduct these types of tests, which could help you understand the quality of your product, and you can thus improve it so that the user experience related to the design of your product could be improved.

collect
0
avatar
Apps Maven
guide
Zupyak is the world’s largest content marketing community, with over 400 000 members and 3 million articles. Explore and get your content discovered.
Read more