The path to product success is in User Testing

A sure way to have an unsuccessful product is to skip or ignore User Testing. Let me say this loud and clear for the people in the back. You are designing for your users, not for yourself. Are you your user? Are the developers your users? Is the product manager your user? Likely not.

Mastering the balance between satisfying business and stakeholder requirements while ensuring your users have a great experience is one of the most challenging parts of being a User Experience Designer, but that’s why there is User Testing.

Why Should You User Test?

There is one easy way for me to tell you why you need to User Test. According to a study by Microsoft, the average human now has an attention span of only eight seconds. Another article by Nielsen Norman Group states that the first 10 seconds of a webpage visit is critical for the user to decide whether they stay or leave. If you take only one thing from this article please let it be this:

Your users have roughly 10 seconds to decide whether your product is worth their time. Once they determine that it’s not worth their time, they will not be back.

Your potential users will have moved onto another product by the time you roll out any changes. This is why User Testing is so important. The goal is to catch those usability issues and those features you didn’t know they wanted before releasing your product.

When Should You User Test?

There’s no real hard and fast answer to this, but in my personal opinion, I believe in testing throughout the entire design process so that I can maintain focus on the user without needing to backtrack. I’ve even tested as early as pen and paper sketches through rapid prototyping.

I do however strongly advise that most testing takes place before development begins. I build User Testing into the sprint and level of effort to ensure the scrum master, project manager, and client if applicable, all account for this as part of the UX process. If usability issues arise, I continue to iterate on the design…