UX Research Fundamentals — User Interviews and Usability Testing

Danielle Boris
Sep 3, 2018 · 3 min read

User interviews set the stage for the UX design process. Without proper research, the designs will be baseless and indefensible. Once the problem statement is developed the designer must write a questionnaire script. However, it’s important to remember that this script is more of a guideline than a strict set of questions to follow. The most important part of user interviews is to understand the user’s current attitudes, behaviors, and reasons. These will come out when the interviewee tells a story, so be sure to structure your questions in an open-ended manor, prompting the interviewee to tell you about time using the product (if it already exists) or what they do now (if the product is new).

Once the questionnaire script is set, the designer needs to set up a screener survey to send out to a wide network of people. The screener survey should conceal both the product and idea the designer is testing. The screener survey ensures the designer is interviewing people in his/her target audience, in order to get the richest data.

From the screener surveys, the designer will recruit and interview at least 5 people. Best practice during these interviews is to listen intently and keep the interview converstional. You want the participant to feel as comfortable as possible during these sessions. Let silence be a guide, allowing the interviewee to break it with more stories, rather than the designer forcing the converstion forward. The designer should also be sure to take notes during the sessions, but if possible, bringing a notetaker along allows the designer and interviewee to have the best dialogue. Recording the session is always useful, but it’s improtant to ask the participant for his/her permission first.

After the interview, the designer should synthesize the notes. Once all the interviews are complete, the designer should use an affinity map to help pull out key findings and themes across the interviews. The key takeaways will become the basis for personas and features within the designs.

This same process is followed for usability testing, with a few key changes. The script for usability testing involves an introduction and some upfront questions about current behaviors and technology usage. Then the interviewee sets up three different scenarios and tasks to walk the participant through the app. These scenarios and tasks should be clear and concise, but not use words that are in the design. For example, directing a participant to add an item to his or her cart, will only lead them to look for the word “cart” in the platform. Use a different word in the scenarios and tasks to ensure the participant actually navigates the platform.

During usability testing, the designer should stay quiet. Don’t answer any questions, tempting as it may be. If the participant cannot find a feature, then it is not well designed, and the designer should note that. Nobody will be there to answer the participant’s quesitons when they are using the product in their day-to-day lives.

The findings from the usability tests should be synthesized into key takeaways and used to iterate the product for the next round of testing.

Danielle Boris

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