Contents 1. What is Usability Testing? 2. Why Is Usability Testing Important? 3. What Can be Avoided with Usability Testing? 4. Impact of Usability Testing on User Experience (UX) 5. Steps to Perform Usability Testing 6. Examples of Usability Testing Use Cases 7. Top 7 Usability Testing Tools In 2022 8. Conclusion 9. How Can TestingXperts Help with Your Usability Testing Needs

Software testing and quality assurance go a long way in ensuring digital businesses release top-notch products. However, if product testing and QA fails to focus on the end user’s perspective, the result might be devastating. When creating new applications or updating existing ones, it is crucial to ensure that users find it easy and quick to navigate through the application. This is where usability testing comes into the picture and enables product companies to deliver customer-centric digital products.

What is Usability Testing?

Usability or user experience (UX) testing is the process of measuring how easy an application flow or design is to use with a group of testers or real-life users. It usually involves observing users as they attempt to complete tasks and can be done for different types of designs. It is often conducted repeatedly, from early development until a product’s release. A small set of target end-users use an application to expose usability defects.

Whitney Quesenbery, former President of the Usability Professionals’ Association (UXPA), shared the 5 Es of usability testing given below:

• Effective: How effectively or accurately are the goals achieved

• Efficient: How quickly are the goals met

• Engaging: Is the user interface pleasant and satisfying to use

• Error Tolerant: How well the product prevents errors and can help users recover from their mistakes

• Easy to Learn: How well the product supports initial orientation and continued learning

Usability testing mainly focuses on ease of usage, the flexibility of application to handle controls, and the ability to meet its objectives. Given the benefits of usability testing, it is essential to perform usability testing as a part of the product development lifecycle.

Why Is Usability Testing Important?

One of the critical reasons why testing the application’s usability is essential is that there are many similar applications to choose from. Users nowadays simply move to other applications if they cannot figure out how to use or navigate them quickly.

Usability testing aims at gathering as much feedback as possible on how real users interact with the application as early as possible and as often as possible. This enables product businesses to identify design issues before the application reaches the final build. If usability testing is left until the final build, further changes take more time and effort. Easy-to-use apps and websites increase user satisfaction, whereas apps that are not at par with the usability conventions confuse the users and result in revenue losses for the respective businesses.

App/website usability testing enables enterprises to:

• Measure users’ satisfaction with the application’s interface

• Discover the app’s possible weaknesses

• Discover what the users like the best about the app

• Perform tests in real-world scenarios

• Validate localization and personalization features

• Ensure cross-platform compatibility

• Ensure network, device, and operating system compatibility

• Receive helpful feedback on how the app can be improved

• Implement the improvements and boost customer retention

• Provide a great UX

What Can be Avoided with Usability Testing?

QA teams should include usability testing as an ongoing process throughout the SDLC. Doing so will enable teams to streamline the application development by understanding how the end users will respond. Here are a few issues that can be taken care of with usability testing:

• Inefficient design layout

• Navigation issues

• Inefficient app performance across platforms and networks

• Ineffective tasks that demand too much user effort

• Poor performance leading to app uninstallation

• Common errors on the page

• Typos, grammar, and spelling errors within the content

• Inconsistent branding

Impact of Usability Testing on User Experience (UX)

Usability testing is a critical process in developing and delivering user-friendly products. Unlike most forms of software testing, real users are involved in performing usability testing along with professional testers. Only through various usability testing methods can the product stakeholders know unbiased opinions regarding the application’s likes, dislikes, struggles, and uniqueness. While testers may run different usability testing methods to test the application’s ease of usage, the process typically involves a real-life user or tester using the application or performing a series of tasks to ensure they are delivered with a great user experience.

Types of usability testing methods:

• Usability lab

• Guerilla tests

• Screen or video recording

• Leverage Usability testing partners

• Contextual inquiry

Steps to Perform Usability Testing

Examples of Usability Testing Use Cases

• Is the system easy to learn?

• Does the application add value to the target audience?

• Are the content, color, icons, and images aesthetically pleasing?

• Are the controls used self-explanatory?

• Is the application responsive on all the targeted devices and operating systems?

• Is the necessary help available for users to understand the application?

• Is the navigation minimal to reach the desired screen?

• Is the scrolling minimum?

• Is the format of screen/pages in the application/website uniform?

Top 7 Usability Testing Tools In 2022

Conclusion

Usability testing is required by all business applications as it gives first-hand information about whether the product meets the user’s expectations. It is very helpful for getting user reactions and feedback about the product.

Leverage TestingXperts usability testing services and gain insights about product experience in advance to ensure its success.

How Can TestingXperts Help with Your Usability Testing Needs

• Talented pool of Usability testing experts to guide you on the strategy

• Assistance in coming up with a list of sample users based on application characteristics, business objectives, and user demographics

• Ability to perform crowdsource testing through the wide user community

• In-depth survey forms that ensure real user usability testing

• Comprehensive usability reports along with detailed recommendations for improvement

Talk to our QA experts today.

The post How to Perform Usability Testing – A Quick Guide first appeared on TestingXperts.

Enterprises and businesses are in a fast-paced environment thinking all the time about a faster time to market and quicker return on their investments. But, in reality with the ever-changing user expectations, there is an emerging need for businesses to concentrate on their software’s usability which includes the ease of usage of the application or the product along with the efficiency of the interfaces.

Contents 1. What is Usability Testing (UT) All About? 2. Why Should Usability Software Testing Be a Part of SDLC? 3. Benefits of Usability Testing 4. At What Stage Are These Usability Tests Conducted? 5. What are the top Usability Testing Tools for Enterprises? 6. Conclusion

What is Usability Testing (UT) All About?

Usability testing is a unique and effective way to identify and fix any product or application related usability issues and ensures to deliver an amazing UX for the end-users. It is like a black box testing of an application to ascertain if the product built is convenient to use and easy to learn.

It is typically an assessment of how easy is it to use the software’s user interface along with the ease of navigation of the app’s flow. Especially, it is the user interface which is the key to success for all mobile applications and for websites that deal with e-commerce applications.

Why Should Usability Software Testing Be a Part of SDLC?

The basic idea behind the usability software testing is to put yourself in your customers’ shoes, identify any pain points, inefficient loading of screens or any other hindrances that might occur while using the product. This sort of user experience testing should necessarily be a critical component of any software development lifecycle (SDLC) as it can help businesses to get the desired product with all relevant features at a first-hand.

It further helps to protect your brand and ensures higher ROI when once the software is launched into the market. Such applications that are tested for their usability are bound to deliver greater success and helps to be ahead of your competitors. Moreover, if the application does not meet the user expectations, then the entire purpose of application development is lost at a higher end.

According to one of the Forbes Technology Council post, it states that Usability testing should start as soon as there are tasks for a user to complete, because the earlier that product teams can start getting feedback from users on what they are building, the better it is.

It is to be noted that many businesses and even enterprises of mid-sized or large, are not factoring usability testing in their SDLC workflow. Some of the reasons could be, “It’s too expensive, it’s not in our budget,” or “We don’t need to do user testing, or is it so important now or let’s just focus on other testing aspects.” But, in reality, usability testing services are needed to know about the various aspects related to the real-time usability of their software, and hence is a need today for businesses to make use of these services and be in-line with the advantages it brings about.

Benefits of Usability Testing

1. Provides insights on product/apps learning curve variations:

The learning curve behind the software or the application should be the least as today’s users have very less time to even take a second to understand the functionality. If there is complexity in the usability, then they will dump that web or mobile app and might move to the nearest competitor.

Hence, by performing usability testing in the right way, at the right time with the right set of people, it reduces the risk of building the wrong product; thereby saving time, money and other precious resources. Further, if it is done at an early stage when the product is at the paper prototyping stage, it helps to find the user issues quickly and it could work out cheaper to fix them.

It also helps to understand the user’s success rate and time spent to complete a particular task. There are many success cases where usability testing has proved to be a good exercise in terms of ROI.

2. Defines the ease of application usage:

Usability testing being a black box testing technique, establishes whether the users feel at ease with the application or with the website they use. The ease of usage is bound to deliver better end-user retention and ensures more downloads in case of mobile apps and helps to uphold brand identity.

3. Delivers first-hand information on user interface perspectives:

Usability tests help identify if there is any preliminary design issue or any other intervening issues with the user interface at the first level. It helps to throw insights on certain issues that could not be thought about at the initial designing phase.

4. Furnishes real-time usability insights early:

The goal of usability testing is to better understand how real-time users interact with your product and how best to improve the product usage based on the results. In a typical usability test, real-time users try to accomplish formulated goals or tasks with a product under controlled conditions to derive defined results.

5. Delivers quicker design inputs with stakeholder’s participation:

Usually, all the stakeholders should be equally involved as each might have a different view point for a design decision. Being subjective by nature, design decision often leads to long debates among stakeholders. Thus, most often design decisions are influenced by stakeholders and such interactions helps in iterating and validating design concepts effectively. It gives objectivity to design debates and it helps in taking fact-based design decisions early.

6. Uplifts especially Omni-channel experience:

When you log on to an e-commerce application or a website and if it fails to give the desired and required experience, then it adversely affects the brand’s loyalty. Usability tested applications lure customers with effective UX and sustain their interest in the brand and users continue to prefer the same brand over competitors due to its significant ease of usage and excellent UX.

At What Stage Are These Usability Tests Conducted?

These Usability tests can be conducted at different stages of the applications design process. They are broadly divided into the Formative tests and Summative tests.

Formative Tests:

These are usually the low profile tests that are conducted to gain insights through prototypes. They are usually conducted during the very initial development phase using paper prototypes which can be done anywhere and a formal lab is not required. Moreover, these tests can also be done just between a moderator and a participant.

This method helps observe the behavior of the users to find out what works and what doesn’t work. Users are given specific tasks to complete and observers watch their body language, facial expressions, emotions and encourage them to “think aloud” i.e. speak up whatever comes to their mind while using the product. Some of the results of a formative test may be in the form of user comments such as emotions or any visible action changes.

Summative Tests:

These tests are of high profile nature and are related towards the metrics capture. These tests are usually carried out at the end of the development stage and at this stage usability of a product is validated which gives answers to how usable is the product, or draws a strong comparison against its competitor products.

It is conducted in usability labs or remotely using many tools available where users can perform the tests using their computers or using their mobile phones.

What are the top Usability Testing Tools for Enterprises?

1. Userlytics:

2. Crazy Egg:

3. Optimizely:

4. Qualaroo:

Conclusion:

Usability testing is needed for all business applications as it gives a piece of first-hand information about whether the product meets the user expectations and is very helpful for getting user reactions and feedback about the product. Hence, businesses need to leverage usability testing services to gain insights about their product in advance and be sure of their product’s success and eventually safeguard their brand.

The post Top 6 Facts Why Businesses Should Embrace Usability testing first appeared on TestingXperts.

Internet of Things (IoT) is changing the lives of consumers at many levels. From smartwatches and fitness trackers to connected cars and homes, the market for wearable technology is expanding and finding new niches.

Contents 1. Role of Usability Testing 2. Why is Usability Testing Critical? 3. Reasons Why Usability Testing Cannot Be Ignored 4. Conclusion

Role of Usability Testing

According to a report by industry analyst firm CCS insights, there will be a growth of $25 billion by 2019 for the wearables market, and over 125 million units are expected to ship in 2019.

While the above statistics make a strong point that wearables and smart devices will be the future and the world will be using these devices to perform daily activities., there is an extensive need to double down testing efforts.

The race to become an ideal choice for customers is pressuring enterprises across all business domains. In particular, with user experience, every brand is building strategies to ensure better customer experience. Considering the focus that is on strengthening their digital impact, every brand/service/product is striving to come up with appealing website designs and mobile-based applications.

Those winning brands in the wearable tech ecosystem recognize the importance of customer experience for the growth of their product. Every day, there is a new competition in the wearables space. From watches to glasses, different challenges are involved with every technology. However, the main challenge faced by the wearables industry is to ensure the best user experience.

Why is Usability Testing Critical?

Usability Testing identifies crucial usability issues before the product is launched. It helps determine the usability standards for the target audience. It also helps to gather real-time feedback from the target audience using an application. Usability Testing has proven to decrease support costs, increase user satisfaction, and save big on development and redesign costs.

Reasons Why Usability Testing Cannot Be Ignored

1. Easy access to information

Wearables gather information such as the number of steps taken, miles covered, track heartbeat of a user and more. Usability Testing ensures the data captured by these devices is easily accessible and displayed to users clearly.

2. Ease of use

Wearable devices provide ease to people who want to track their movements. If the device is not easily accessible and is complex, it is obvious that its market would be limited after receiving initial feedback from the users. The device should be easy to use and should be aesthetically attractive. Usability Testing considers various aspects to check if the device is user-friendly and is appealing to the customers or not. Some aspects are:

– Screen Size

– Font Size

– Colors Used

– Touch Panel

– Easy Scroll

3. Gesture and voice feedback

Wearables are on the users’ body constantly, and people move in unanticipated ways. What happens when a hello wave interrupts tracking or switches a smart device from ambient to interactive mode? Device input discrepancies could be the make it or break it for a user. This is where Usability Testing comes into the picture as it checks the device for any struggle while registering the different tones of voice.

4. Call interruption and notifications

As wearables sync to mobile devices, but do not necessarily have all the functions of a mobile, disturbances like notifications and calls can interrupt or even ruin the user. Helped by Interrupt Testing (a part of usability testing), it can be validated that the calls or notifications do not interrupt the functioning of the device.

5. Connectivity issues

Most wearables connect to the phone via Bluetooth, which makes Bluetooth connectivity the most important thing to test as connectivity issues can annoy even the techiest of users. Usability Testing ensures that setting up wearable device connectivity with mobile is easy and doable without toiling much.

6. Feedback from user groups

Usability testing involves real-time usage of the device to get candid feedback of the users. It is essential to discover defects and errors that are unknown and can arise when a user is using the device.

Conclusion

Wearable technology market is emerging, and the demand is likely to rise in future. Therefore, to attract more consumers, smart technology is required. However, the interface being offered should be easy to use. To deliver a consistent, seamless and high-quality experience for users, wearables should be thoroughly tested.

To ensure Quality is no more a concern, outsourcing QA to a third-party organization with the right expertise can be your best choice. At TestingXperts, our focus is to keep your applications secure and achieve customers’ satisfaction. Connect with us today for more information on our Quality Assurance and Software Testing services.

The post How Critical Is Usability Testing For Wearables first appeared on TestingXperts.

Summer seems to be ending very quickly and the holidays are fast approaching. Is your website/application up and running as planned? Even if it is, it needs to be additionally prepped for the fall and winter holiday shopping season. Sometimes, the application is not able to withstand the sudden influx of users and before you know it, either the website servers are down, or the payment gateway crashes. This negligence can end up having an adverse impact on the brand. Executing a great amount of testing can help you cover different conditions under a uniform environment.

Contents 1. E-commerce Testing Techniques 2. Perfecting the Performance 3. Giving Prominence to Usability Testing 4. Getting the Spotlight on Security 5. Conclusion

Let us talk about 3 most effective testing techniques that help your e-commerce company to deal with adverse situations on those big days.

2. Giving Prominence to Usability Testing:

Considering that e-commerce websites hold plenty of dynamic content, usability testing helps testers detect issues faced by potential users. The testing is performed under given scenarios that represent realistic conditions. A/B testing or split testing comes under this category and is possibly the most effective method to provide a choice of desired user experience to your customers.

3. Getting the Spotlight on Security:

Security is not an option. In fact, it is an important aspect that can either make or break your e-commerce company. Ensuring that your website is secure is possibly the most important advice here. While other issues can be ignored, overlooked, or elapsed time but security issues can have a huge impact on your business. The amount of sensitive information, an e-commerce application has increased the risk of it getting hacked. To deal with such instances, prior security measures should be taken in the form of extensive security testing.

Conclusion

Since your website/application is the gateway to your business, you should embrace the right testing strategy that helps you deliver the right buying experience to your customers and helps you gain more and more customers. Once you are ready with planning an effective testing strategy, all you need to do is to assign the right time and resources.

TestingXperts is the leading provider of e-commerce testing solutions globally. We cater to customers across various industry domains, through effective testing solutions. We have successfully performed usability testing for our numerous clients. Get in touch with us if you are looking to test usability aspects of your business applications.

The post Is your E-Commerce Application Ready for the upcoming Holiday Season? first appeared on TestingXperts.

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