Testing content with disabled people and their families
User-centered approach
Disabled people and their families are at the front and center of our work. We listen to them to understand the challenges they face, the information they seek, and the advice they need. Through a mix of qualitative and quantitative research methods, we prioritize their needs and develop user stories that reflect them.
Each user story focuses on a specific information need and acts as the foundation of a content item. Our content designers use these stories to write content to addresses those needs, through collaboration with subject experts and policy advisers.
The involvement of customers does not end here though. After content is written, and before it is published, we test it with our customers. We want to make sure that we got it right.
Preparing for user testing
We assign testing personas to all content items. Testing personas signify the potential target audience that the content is written for. This will help us test the content with its actual audience, and thereby receive the most helpful user feedback.
Testing without a website
Over the last few years, usability testing has become a standard practice in the UX research community. Content testing is less known and practiced. We want to make sure our content is fully accessible and easy to comprehend. One of our key challenges was that we did not have a website for our new content. We launch our new website in a couple of months. This meant that we had to find an alternative platform for user testing.
Our solution was to create a Google Doc template that mirrors most features of our new website. It has the same look and feel, as well as some other features like ‘warning’ or ‘important’ boxes.
On the day of testing, two user researchers attend the session along with the user. We ask the user to read through the content out loud. We pause at the end of each paragraph and discuss. We ask them to tell us, what they liked, what they did not like, what was unclear, and would they change anything based on their experience. We also ask about the language and tone of voice. The user reads the content on the Google doc in ‘viewing’ mode so that they cannot see any previous comments. The second user researcher acts as a notetaker and adds all feedback to the document in ‘editing’ mode. This method of user testing focuses on the helpfulness, comprehension, and accessibility of the content rather than the usability of the web page.
We test each piece of content with at least two people. If the content is complicated, or if we receive contradictory feedback, we test it with more people. When testing is over, our content designers go through all the feedback and make final adjustments. During this, user researchers remain available to answer any questions.
Conclusion
This process of content user testing helps us improve our content before publishing. It also reduces the likelihood of major mistakes and helps us find the right language for the target audience. We are firm believers in continuous improvement. We learn from customer feedback, and continuously incorporate it into our routine process. We also keep an open mind about any feedback that we may receive once our content is live and make sure we keep improving our content.
