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User Testing Articles & Videos

  • 5 Facilitation Principles for Both UX Workshops and User Tests

    Both UX workshops and usability tests benefit when facilitators are focused on goals, follow a meeting guide yet are open to improvisation, encourage participants to act, and don’t talk too much.

  • UX Research Made Agile

    Test early and often is a key recommendation for UX research. Dora Brune shares her approach, including regular Open Test Labs to engage more product teams and make user research more agile. Kinder Eggs make for a nice warmup task, even in remote tests. (Recorded at a participant panel at the UX Conference.)

  • Using a Translator During Usability Testing

    Usability studies with international users can be very informative, but if you don't speak the foreign language, you will need interpretation to understand the user (and for the user to understand you). These 5 guidelines will improve the value of translated research sessions.

  • Recruiting and Screening Candidates for User Research Projects

    Know the inherent biases in your recruiting process and avoid them in order to recruit study participants that are representative for your target audience.

  • Remote Usability Testing: Study Guide

    Unsure where to start? Use this collection of links to our articles and videos to learn about conducting user testing remotely.

  • Advanced User Testing Methods for Accelerating Innovation

    Two user research methods allow you to quickly test a large number of design alternatives, thus accelerating UX innovation. Rapid iterative design and within-subjects testing of multiple alternate designs aren't for every project, but are great when they do apply.

  • Limited Usability Testing and Business Decisions

    Some business stakeholders say that 5 test users can't represent all customers, and so it's too dangerous to release a new design. Better to keep existing workflows unchanged. How to respond to such claims.

  • Recruiting Expert Users as Usability Study Participants

    User research, especially for complex apps and domain-specific design, may require study participants with high expertise who can be difficult to recruit. Here are 5 tips for getting expert users.

  • Triangulation: Combine Findings from Multiple User Research Methods

    Improve design decisions by looking at the problem from multiple points of view: combine multiple types of data or data from several UX research methods.

  • Qualitative Usability Testing: Study Guide

    Unsure where to start? Use this collection of links to our articles and videos to learn about planning, conducting, and analyzing qualitative user testing.

  • Partner with Other Research Teams in Your Organization

    To gain a holistic picture of your users, exchange data with the non-UX teams in your company who are collecting other forms of customer data, besides the user research you do yourself. You gain; they gain.

  • Remote Usability Testing Costs

    We compare the budgets needed for different kinds of qualitative user research: in-person usability testing vs. remote studies run by software (unmoderated) or run by a human moderator.

  • User Research Repositories for Cross-Functional Teams

    Tips for placing all information about users in a single place, so that the entire UX team can leverage this knowledge. Eden Lazaness shares her experience and demos the tools her team used. This was filmed during a participant experience panel after a recent UX Conference.

  • 5 Facilitation Mistakes to Avoid During User Interviews

    Some common mistakes to avoid in UX interviews include poor rapport, multitasking, leading, insufficient probing, and poorly managed observers.

  • Three Levels of Pain Points in Customer Experience

    Pain points are problems that occur at the different levels of the customer experience: interaction level, customer-journey level, or relationship level.

  • International Usability Testing: Why You Need It

    User testing in different countries helps identify culturally specific usability issues. Testing correctly and at the right time will help you thrive in a new market.

  • Usability Testing for Content

    Usability testing can yield valuable insights about your content. Make sure you test with the correct users, carefully craft the tasks, and ask the right follow-up questions.

  • Comparing Qualitative and Quantitative UX Research

    Qualitative and quantitative are both useful types of user research, but involve different methods and answer different questions for your UX design process. Use both!

  • Tips for Motivating Stakeholders to Participate in User Research

    When stakeholders observe user research sessions, the credibility and acceptance of findings will increase. Since they are busy, make it easy to participate and work on increasing the value they get out of going.

  • Internal vs. External Validity of UX Studies

    Poorly designed qualitative or quantitative research may produce invalid results. Avoid encouraging certain responses or behaviors and make sure that your study conditions and participants are representative.

  • UX Research Made Agile

    Test early and often is a key recommendation for UX research. Dora Brune shares her approach, including regular Open Test Labs to engage more product teams and make user research more agile. Kinder Eggs make for a nice warmup task, even in remote tests. (Recorded at a participant panel at the UX Conference.)

  • Using a Translator During Usability Testing

    Usability studies with international users can be very informative, but if you don't speak the foreign language, you will need interpretation to understand the user (and for the user to understand you). These 5 guidelines will improve the value of translated research sessions.

  • Advanced User Testing Methods for Accelerating Innovation

    Two user research methods allow you to quickly test a large number of design alternatives, thus accelerating UX innovation. Rapid iterative design and within-subjects testing of multiple alternate designs aren't for every project, but are great when they do apply.

  • Limited Usability Testing and Business Decisions

    Some business stakeholders say that 5 test users can't represent all customers, and so it's too dangerous to release a new design. Better to keep existing workflows unchanged. How to respond to such claims.

  • Recruiting Expert Users as Usability Study Participants

    User research, especially for complex apps and domain-specific design, may require study participants with high expertise who can be difficult to recruit. Here are 5 tips for getting expert users.

  • Triangulation: Combine Findings from Multiple User Research Methods

    Improve design decisions by looking at the problem from multiple points of view: combine multiple types of data or data from several UX research methods.

  • Partner with Other Research Teams in Your Organization

    To gain a holistic picture of your users, exchange data with the non-UX teams in your company who are collecting other forms of customer data, besides the user research you do yourself. You gain; they gain.

  • Remote Usability Testing Costs

    We compare the budgets needed for different kinds of qualitative user research: in-person usability testing vs. remote studies run by software (unmoderated) or run by a human moderator.

  • User Research Repositories for Cross-Functional Teams

    Tips for placing all information about users in a single place, so that the entire UX team can leverage this knowledge. Eden Lazaness shares her experience and demos the tools her team used. This was filmed during a participant experience panel after a recent UX Conference.

  • Usability Testing for Content

    Usability testing can yield valuable insights about your content. Make sure you test with the correct users, carefully craft the tasks, and ask the right follow-up questions.

  • Comparing Qualitative and Quantitative UX Research

    Qualitative and quantitative are both useful types of user research, but involve different methods and answer different questions for your UX design process. Use both!

  • Tips for Motivating Stakeholders to Participate in User Research

    When stakeholders observe user research sessions, the credibility and acceptance of findings will increase. Since they are busy, make it easy to participate and work on increasing the value they get out of going.

  • Diary Studies

    Ask users to keep a diary throughout a fairly long period is great for researching customer journeys or other bigger-scope issues in user experience that go beyond a single interaction.

  • You Can't Test Everything, So What Should You Test?

    Nobody has enough user-research budget to test everything, so you must focus usability testing on those features that will matter the most for the user experience and have the most business impact. Here's a simple method to prioritize what to test.

  • Virtual Reality and User Experience

    Virtual reality (VR) user interfaces are currently more difficult for users to manipulate than a traditional GUI, partly because of more degrees of freedom and partly because VR is still new, so people have less experience using it. Advice for how to employ usability studies to alleviate this problem.

  • Running a Remote Usability Test, Part 2

    Learn how to run a remote moderated usability test. This second video covers how to actually facilitate the session with the participant and how to end with debrief, incentive, and initial analysis with your team.

  • Running a Remote Usability Test, Part 1

    Learn how to run a remote moderated usability test. Part 1 covers starting the session with your participant and observers.

  • Catching Cheaters and Outliers in Remote Unmoderated Studies

    In remote usability studies, it's hard to identify test participants who should not be in the study because they don't fit the profile or don't attempt the task seriously. This is even harder in unmoderated studies, but it can (and should) be done.

  • Can Market Research Teams and UX Research Teams Collaborate and Avoid Miscommunication?

    The total customer journey and user experience quality will benefit from considering market research and user research to be highly related, and to integrate the two, instead of keeping different kinds of research teams from collaborating.

  • Usability Testing with Minors

    Usability studies with children and teenagers are as valuable as any other user research, but require special attention to both participant recruiting and study facilitation. You can't act the same with kids as you would with adults.

  • Project Management for User Research: The Plan

    How to make a great UX research plan to document the goals, methods, and logistics necessary to repeat the study.

  • Observer Guidelines for Usability Research

    Let stakeholders help gather data during user research sessions. Customize this handout for observers to fit your situation.

  • Employees as Usability-Test Participants

    Recruiting internal staff to test a user interface should be a last resort. Consider potential biases before drawing any conclusions.

  • Team Members Behaving Badly During Usability Tests

    When observers make unethical requests or act in ways that violate proper usability practices, researchers should act to protect the participant.

  • Checklist for Planning Usability Studies

    Planning a user test? Follow these 9 steps to make sure you are prepared.

  • Games User Research: What’s Different?

    Game testing researches the notion of fun. Compared with mainstream UX studies, it involves many more users and relies more on biometrics and custom software. The most striking findings from the Games User Research Summit were the drastic age and gender differences in motivation research.

  • Getting Users to a Specific Feature in a Usability Test

    User testing works best if you don’t direct participants too much, but sometimes you need users to go straight to a target page. How to get them there?

  • Using the Microsoft Desirability Toolkit to Test Visual Appeal

    Measure people's attitudes toward a user interface by a controlled vocabulary test: give users the list of product reaction words and asks them to select those that best describe the design.

  • Usability Testing of Icons

    To ensure that people understand the meaning and purpose of icons, conduct multiple types of tests at various stages of the product-development cycle.

  • Conducting Usability Testing with Real Users' Real Data

    Qualitative user studies benefit from using participants’ personal information, but asking for sensitive information requires preparation and consideration.

  • Test Paper Prototypes to Save Time and Money: The Mozilla Case Study

    Low-fidelity user testing of several iterations of Mozilla’s Support website quickly showed which user-interface elements worked best for Firefox users.

  • How Iterative Testing Decreased Support Calls By 70% on Mozilla's Support Website

    User research with data mining and paper prototyping quickly led to measurable success for one of the busiest support websites in the world.

  • Pilot Testing: Getting It Right (Before) the First Time

    Pilot testing (a session or two before the real test) helps fine-tune usability studies, leading to more reliable results.

  • Redesigning Your Website? Don’t Ditch Your Old Design So Soon

    Testing your site’s existing design along with a few competitor websites provides valuable insight for new designs. Competitive studies help you avoid developing unusable new features.

  • When to Use Which User-Experience Research Methods

    Modern day UX research methods answer a wide range of questions. To know when to use which method, each of 20 methods is mapped across 3 dimensions and over time within a typical product-development process.

  • Demonstrate Thinking Aloud by Showing Users a Video

    Show a 1-minute demo video to your test participants to teach them how to think aloud in a usability study and give you more useful information.

  • UX Without User Research Is Not UX

    UX teams are responsible for creating desirable experiences for users. Yet many organizations fail to include users in the development process. Without customer input, organizations risk creating interfaces that fail.

  • Usability Testing for Mobile Is Easy

    Testing phones, tablets, or other mobile devices with real users requires special consideration for recording equipment, room setup, and even the test users.

  • Talking with Participants During a Usability Test

    Talk less and learn more by being prepared to use 3 sound, practical techniques for interrupting or answering users while facilitating a usability test or other behavioral research study.

  • Turn User Goals into Task Scenarios for Usability Testing

    Guidelines for usability test tasks: engage participants by writing task scenarios that are realistic, encourage an action, and don’t give away how the interface should be used.