User Testing for Product Managers

Jon White – Product Manager @

Usability  tes+ng  is  a  method  by  which  users  of  a  product  are  asked  to  perform  certain  tasks  in  an  effort  to  measure  the  product's  ease-­‐of-­‐use,  task  +me,  and  the  user's  percep+on  of  the  

experience.  

expensive  

+me  consuming  

difficult  

requires  experts  

expensive  

+me  consuming  

difficult  

requires  experts  

The type of usability testing we will be talking about today, is not this:

It is this.

It is this.

YOU

USER

PRODUCT

Workshop Format

1. Some quick techniques and caveats

2. Test (2 participants) 3. De-Brief

4. wrap-up

Must Haves

Should Haves

User (participant) You (faciliator)

Product

Observer(s) Screen Recording

Note Taker Quiet Room

Ingredients

Business Goal

Today we will do the test only

We are looking for the problems only

Read this book!

Before we start: I am not a usability expert!

Lets do it!!

The  Facilitators  job  is  to:    •  DO  -­‐  make  sure  the  par8cipant  is  comfortable  

•  DO  -­‐  ensure  the  par8cipant  understands  the  task  being  set  

•  DO  -­‐  keep  the  user  on  track,  if  they  go  way  off  course  

•  DO  -­‐  encourage  the  ‘think-­‐aloud’  protocol,  explaining  what  they  are  doing  and  why?  

•  DO  -­‐  be  quiet  J  

Facilitator DO’s:

The  Facilitators  job  is  not:    •  DON’T  -­‐  help  the  par8cipant  out  solving  the  tasks  

•  DON’T  -­‐  judge  or  offer  your  own  opinion  

•  DON’T  -­‐  react  emo8onally  to  anything  the  par8cipant  does  

Facilitator DON’Ts:

The  observers  job  is  to    •  Spot,  and  document,  points  of  confusion  or  problems.    

Avoid  jumping  to  solu8on,  that  comes  later.  

•  Empathize  with  the  par8cipant,  do  they  look  frustrated?  Do  they  look  confused?  What  is  causing  that?  

•  Make  notes  of  follow  up  ques8ons  you  would  like  to  know.  

The Observer’s job is to:

Task List

1. Print out your account statement for July

2. Add NFL Redzone to your monthly

package

De-Brief

What problems did we notice?

FIDELITY

FIDELITY

low   high  

mockups  

sketches  finished  product  comps  

prototypes  

Discuss!!

Downloads

•  This deck – bit.ly/UserTestingForPMs

•  An example of a research summary •  https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1EPo0jTRTv-ygvGVZZ6ecIVxn_GpSFECWUMmFDJ9uRS8/pub?

start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000#slide=id.g10c39f6e8_0148

• Handout •  https://www.dropbox.com/s/jpajmvi7nc882md/user-testing-cheat-sheet.pdf

• @jontheexiled

Jon White – Product Manager @