{"id":18115,"date":"2020-09-23T15:09:27","date_gmt":"2020-09-23T14:09:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marvel7077.wpengine.com\/?p=18115"},"modified":"2025-01-08T11:53:33","modified_gmt":"2025-01-08T11:53:33","slug":"usability-testing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marvelapp.com\/blog\/usability-testing\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Usability Testing?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since the early 90s, the terms \u2018Usability\u2019 and \u2018User Experience (UX)\u2019 have been talked about non-stop in the world of design, and are often referred to as \u2018must-haves\u2019 in the design process for products and services on multiple platforms. Where this couldn\u2019t be more true, it\u2019s hard to overstate the importance of usability testing<\/a>. In this article, we\u2019ll cover the importance of user testing and its benefits for both the end-user and your business.<\/p>\n

It is easy to mix the terms up, but usability is one of many factors that shape the UX of a product, along with user research, content strategy and visual design. Creating an intuitive application or website takes time, and what may seem obvious to one person may not be for everyone. \u00a0Yet it's a critical part of app and website development<\/a>, so spend time to get this right.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0\u201cGood UX design is based on how seamlessly a user can navigate through a site or use a product correctly.\u201d<\/p><\/span><\/blockquote>\n

What is usability testing?<\/h2>\n

Usability testing is one of the most common techniques to check how useable your app or website is. This testing involves users from your target audience to accomplish a set of tasks in a controlled scenario - like signing up or making a purchase. Observers will take notes of where users have succeeded or where they have struggled, so they can revisit their designs at a later date and make improvements.<\/p>\n

What usability testing is not<\/h2>\n

There are some UX tools that aim to improve customer experience but don\u2019t qualify as \u2018user testing tools\u2019 because they don\u2019t allow you to explicitly replicate the experience of real users when testing a website or mobile app for functionality. Here are a few methods that don\u2019t qualify as user testing:<\/p>\n

A\/B Testing<\/strong>
\nAlso called Split Testing, this method is to compare multiple versions of a web page to figure out the better performing version, but it won\u2019t tell you why which is a major factor of why this method can\u2019t be used for usability testing.<\/p>\n

Heat maps<\/strong>
\nA heat map is a colour-coded overlay of how users move their mouse around the page by showing the hottest (most popular) and coolest (least popular) parts. These maps will show where people are aggregating on a website, but the accuracy of the data is questionable as many people don\u2019t hover over web elements they are reading.<\/p>\n

Surveys<\/strong>
\nSurveys may be used at the same time, but as they don\u2019t allow you to observe users on the site in action, and for this reason are not considered a method of usability testing.<\/p>\n

How is usability testing different from user testing?<\/h2>\n

Both user testing and usability testing are necessary for UX design, which creates and enhances the quality of the user\u2019s experience in meaningful and valuable ways.<\/p>\n

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\u201cUser testing is the process of collecting qualitative and quantitative data from the test user, whilst the user is subject to all aspects of a service or product.\u201d<\/p><\/span><\/blockquote>\n

User testing is the umbrella term for several types of methodologies that aim to help identify your target users, understanding their needs and behaviours, which includes:<\/p>\n