From the course: User Experience (UX) for Non-Designers

Stage four: Test - Adobe XD Tutorial

From the course: User Experience (UX) for Non-Designers

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Stage four: Test

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- [Instructor] Before I get into the subject of user testing, I should tell you, I'm not a huge fan of the noun user. It is too impersonal because it forces us to overlook the simple fact that it's people with all of their flaws, personal quirks and biases that will actually visit the site or flame up the project on a smartphone or tablet. With that out of the way, asking people to test or try out the project at a variety of the project's milestones is critical. We make assumptions as we pull the projects together and people unfamiliar with our assumptions have the uncanny ability to either confirm the brilliance of our assumptions or utterly destroy them. Either way, they will illuminate the path through your project and let you know, in no uncertain terms, what makes things easy or difficult for them as they move through your project. The complexity of user testing ranges from shoestring budget, getting someone in the office to try it out, to money is no object where eye tracking is used to see how a person finds a button on the screen. At its core, user testing is no more than watching people interact unaided with your project by asking that person to do something. For example, during any prototype phase you might ask, "What would you touch to get to the next screen?" Then you sit back and watch and be prepared to be surprised. You're going to discover one of two things. Your design and the assumptions were correct. They found it. Or you discover that didn't work, which isn't a bad thing because you learn early on in the process, what needs to be fixed. Finally, there's one thing you need to know about choosing who will do the test. Don't select friends or family, because they'll tell you what they think you want to know. Same goes for the team. They're a little bit too close to the project and won't give you a dispassionate response unless you do what's called a black hat session. Of course they know what element to tap because they had a hand in creating it. The bottom line is this test, test, test, test early and test often. Why? It is cheaper to fix a major issue at the various stages of the project than to withdraw the project and start all over. This usually happens when it's released into the wild and you start hearing rather nasty things from people who will tell you, "This just doesn't work."

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