Mobile Usability Testing Made Easy as 🥧

Although usability testing is an established practice, remote Usability Testing for mobile apps can still get pretty tricky. You want to simultaneously:

1. Have users test mobile prototypes on their phones
2. See their faces so you know what they’re struggling with
3. See what they’re clicking on
4. Hear them Think Out Loud
5. Somehow make it all work on Zoom / GMeet

No worries — we’ve got a solution for you to get all the answers you need with your trusty Zoom account & a Figma link.

Setting Up

— Get a Zoom or GMeet account where you can host multiple participants

Expert Tip: If you’re using Zoom, ask your participants to download it in advance on their mobile phones.

— Set up a working prototype on Figma / Protopie / or other equivalent software that your users can click through

Expert Tip: Most prototyping tools let you turn off the prototype hints that tell your users what parts are clickable or not. That way you can really see where they expected to click without the prototype guiding them mid-way.

Turn off “Show hotspot hints on click” to prevent giving users hints if they click outside the flow

During the Call

[Keep the first 5 minutes of your call for set up]

— Make sure the participant has Zoom downloaded or is able to open GMeet on their mobile phones

Pro Tip: have users mute their mic on all devices while setting up to avoid a nail-biting echo!

— On their phones, have your participant

• Turn the speaker off [this one’s important to avoid an echo!]
• Turn the mic off
• Turn their video off
• Share their screen [this is the only thing you need from the mobile device!]

— On their laptops, have your participant

• Turn their video on
• Turn their audio on

At the end of this step, you should be able to hear & see your user via their computer, and see their mobile screen

— Send the user the prototype link & share the instructions for the task!

Now all you need to do is sit back, relax and watch people painfully struggle through your prototypes while trying your utmost to control your urge to help them.

Fin!

Looppanel streamlines User Research so you can go from user conversation to actionable, shareable insight in minutes. Learn more about Looppanel here