PixelMEDIA Inc.

Have you ever sat in on a usability call?  Listened to what your client really has to say?

Usability testing is a technique used to evaluate a product or service by testing it on users. This testing can take many forms:

• a clickable prototype with visual designs
• visual designs alone (.jpgs)
• different navigation options
• onsite observations

Most of our testing takes place remotely, over the phone. We try to limit our calls to approximately 30 minutes, but often, as the user becomes engrossed in giving feedback, it will run longer. I’ve sat in on several usability calls.  Each one is an eye-opening experience.  If you get the opportunity, I would highly recommend taking the time.

Through the ones I’ve participated in, I’ve learned a few things.

Lesson #1: There are no right or wrong answers.

Sounds kind of Zen doesn’t it? For me, I like people.  Even more, I like to help people.  I want to ‘help’ the users make the right choice.  It’s a natural thing that I feel a lot of people sitting on a usability call would want to do. Often by the time we’ve reached the point where we have a script for the call and the assets for the call, we’ve been through several rounds of debate internally. We’ve taken many, many ideas and narrowed them down to only a few to present to the user. Sometimes we’ve become attached to a particular navigation or design. But as you know, the point of a usability exercise is to learn what the USER wants. I have had to readjust my thinking so I could be more open-minded about the choices, and avoid influencing a user. The final results are always well worth the effort.

Lesson #2: Keep your mouth shut

This one goes hand-in-hand with Lesson #1.  However this is not an easy task for me.  Somehow I think that’s true for a lot of people, not just me – silence is not always golden.  Sometimes it’s awkward.  And during those awkward moments of silence, when I didn’t have typing to occupy me, I wanted to jump in and give the user an answer.  Any answer.  Just to get things moving again.

The funny thing is that some people just need more time to think through what they’re seeing on their screen.  More time to absorb.  I’m willing to run down three paths and back to the beginning to find out that the 4th path is really the one I wanted.  Some people need to survey each path, consider the options, and then move forward.  Which way of responding is correct?  I refer you to Lesson #1: there are no right or wrong answers.

As an added benefit, if your users are verbal thinkers, you get a real insight into how they solve the particular problem you’ve put in front of them.

Lesson #3: Listen, really listen

If you are like me, as soon as someone starts to answer the question, you’re anticipating what your response will be.  I know people who won’t let me finish my sentence before they’re already answering the question they think I’m going to ask. This isn’t Jeopardy people!  It’s your product, your web site, your brand.  You owe it to yourself and your business to put aside your pre-conceived notions of what is right and wrong, to stop giving your users that answer that you want to hear, and to stop anticipating what will be said.  Listen, really listen – then refer to Lesson #2.  If you’re really stubborn, refer to Lesson #1 after that.

If you follow these 3 lessons, I think you will be quite interested to hear, learn, and hopefully accept what your users are trying to tell you.

Personally, I experienced users choosing a visual layout that would not have been my first choice. However, during the usability testing it was revealed that the users had to perform very specific tasks. These steps were taken in a very specific order – and we would not have known this if we did not complete the testing.

Just recently we worked with a company that was entering a new market space, targeting C-level executives instead of the technical people they had been working with. When we completed the usability for their product, it was determined that certain naming conventions, while common with technical people, did not hold the same meaning or value at the executive level.

So again I ask: Have you ever sat in on a usability call?  Listened to what your client really has to say?  Believe me it’s worth your time to hear what you customers, clients and users have to say. It’s invaluable.

Tags: usability testing