User Testing – You Don’t Want To, But You Need To
Uncategorised • 13th Jul, 15
This is how things have probably gone for the majority of you web developers out there – you’ve just finished build a new website and now that you’re done going through it with your team, you’ve decided that it’s ready to go out into the real world and be tested by users. Once you’ve gathered a group of people who fall into your target audience, testing sessions begin. It won’t take much time before the feedback makes you wish you didn’t let it out, and you start hearing things like:
“What is this?”
“This isn’t something I would use.”
“How do I even log in?” (Never mind the very, very large log in button right on top of the page)
There’s no doubt that it can be hard to watch someone using something which you’ve been working on for a really long time, bringing all of your ideas together to create a real interface. To avoid breaking down into tears and feeling like your mom is the only person who really loves you, here’s some advice to help when it comes to the testing process:
- Remember that the feedback that you’re getting isn’t a reflection of how good you are at your job, but should be seen as a way which you can make improvements. You could even get a colleague at your office do some user testing - one who hasn’t been as involved in the project as you’ve been. The point of user testing is not to defend the work you’ve completed, but rather to make improvements to better their experience.
- Advice and recommendations will be coming your way after this, but keep in mind that you shouldn’t just take this at face value. By asking “why?” each time, you can decide whether or not it’s relevant to what you’re trying to put out to the public.
- Though it may be tempting for you to put testing on hold until you’re completely comfortable with what you’re building, don’t do this. Starting testing as soon as you have a prototype will be helpful when it comes to validating whether you’re doing things correctly and whether certain features are even necessary.
Though it may be a bit traumatic for you, it will definitely be more than worth it in the end. After your user sessions are complete and the changes have been made, you can start making way for a lot more satisfied users and less questions and confusion. Always keep in mind that what may be obvious to you can be a completely different language to the next person. That's the exact mindset here at Symfony Digital, where we aim to please the client and ensure that there's no going wrong when it comes to the world of web development.