User testing is not limited to any single process approach. It’s useful to identify however, that there are two approaches to user testing, depending on where you are within each cycle. Those two types of testing are:
- Discovery testing- where you explore who your users are, where opportunities for big wins exist, and what their current pain points are today, and …
- Testing for Accuracy- a mode of testing that is focused on measuring and analysing the accuracy of your most current design, prototype or build.
You’ve likely seen (or heard of) the learn start-up cycle of build-measure-learn, and many people will also be familiar with the traditional waterfall approach to design.
Many people associate lean process with frequent testing and it’s important to note that user testing can be used frequently along side any process.
What’s valuable to note is that no matter what processes you use; lean, agile or waterfall-“discovery” testing does not need to be repeated with high frequency on the same project.
Whats the thinking behind this? It’s likely that you will make a lot of your big discoveries early on: at a point where you learn new, fundamental truths about your users and identify what core needs aren’t being met by your product or website.
After a discovery phase it’s likely that you’ll be in sync with your clients for some time(assuming your early research and testing were through and set you on the right track). With a single round of thorough discovery testing completed, your designers and developers can achieve a level of understanding that lets them build, iterate, test and improve their approach multiple times before returning to the discovery phase of user testing.
Knowing that there are two types of testing, and knowing what methods for testing and analysing results work best for discovery vs. accuracy is a useful way to make the most of both your testing team and your testing time.
