Member-only story
It helps us understand what users do, why they do it, identify any usability problems, and determine their overall satisfaction with the product. As a usability designer, you already understand how important it is to test early and often. Using various trying styles and tools during project development ensures it meets or exceeds your user’s needs and wants.
While there are many different usability testing methods, they all fall into one of two groups: in-person or remote. Anytime you have a user physically present, it’s considered in-person testing. Remote testing includes any tasks that take place without a usability designer present.
In-person testing is recommended because your moderator can observe and record the user’s body language, gestures, and non-verbal cues.
Methods of in-person testing include contextual interviews, eye tracking, and focus groups. Remote testing is ideal when it’s hard to find the right test users, your budget is relatively small, or you quickly need to know the results. Your remote tasks can be either moderated or unmoderated.
Advantages and Disadvantages.
While in-person testing requires more creative logistics, remote testing also provides more accurate and in-depth feedback. Methods include card sort, prototypes, and focus groups.
In addition to measuring basics like where the user is clicking, in-person testing allows the moderator to note physical, verbal, and emotional responses, which are challenging to access remotely. During each of these tests, the designer can interact with the users and ask probing questions based on the results.
Some of the challenges with in-person testing are time, cost, and logistics. It can take longer to set up and run in-person sessions, so you’re testing time line needs to line up with the user’s availability. Inviting users on-site for in-person testing can be costly. Compensation may be required for the testing expenses and the designers’ cost to arrange, test, and compile the results.
