6 Unexpected things I learned from my first usability study as a UX designer trainee

I recently conducted my first usability study for a food review mobile app for a fictional fancy restaurant for my UX Design course project.

I learnt some unexpected things when conducting this usability study that I would like to share with you.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

1. Some users did not know what certain elements mean in a lo-fi prototype.
2. Most users were not familiar with certain terms.
3. Some users treated the usability study as a test.
4. Some users did not understand what some icons represented.
5. Most users tried to click non-interactive elements.
6. Most users expected the lo-fi prototype to have polished UI Design.

Let’s start!

1. Some users did not know what certain elements mean in a lo-fi prototype.

I was surprised to notice that some of the users didn’t know what certain elements in the prototype meant. For example, some users didn’t know that horizontal lines represent text. I initially thought what the elements represent would be obvious. A lot of them kept asking me what the horizontal lines meant. They even tried to click on them to do some of the tasks. I then had to explain to them that the lines represent text that will be added later in a more advanced prototype.

2. Most users were not familiar with certain terms.

It was surprising to me that most users didn’t know what a screen reader was. One of the tasks in my usability study was to request the user to turn the screen reader on. This feature is popularly used to aid users with visual disabilities and impairments. I found that I had to explain to the users what a screen reader is. Some users were then able to complete this task while others weren’t. It was unclear whether they were able to finish the task because of my explanation or if they just got it through trial and error. If you are an experienced UX designer have you ever had users not know what a feature is?

3. Some users treated the usability study as a test.

“ Is this right?”

This is a question I got from most users. Before I began the usability study, I took the time to explain to the users that there is no right or wrong way to use the app prototype. I emphasized that it was not a test. Despite this, most users still asked me if what they were doing was right. But the thing with usability studies is that there is no right or wrong way to navigate the app. Users can use different click paths to accomplish the same task. It was interesting to me that most users still felt like they were being tested, despite me reassuring them that there is no right or wrong way to use the app prototype. I noticed that some people still feel pressured to do the “right” thing when they’re being watched.

4. Some users did not understand what some icons represented.

For example, in my usability study there were quite a number of users who didn’t know what the translation icon meant. This proved to be a challenge to some of them where one of the prompts was to have users change the language of the app from English to Swahili.

5. Most users tried to click non-interactive elements.

Before I began the usability study, I made sure to explain in detail to the users what they would be able to do and not do with the app prototype. I did my best to make it clear that the prototype was only partially interactive as it was an early model for the final product. Despite this, I found that most users still tried to interact with non-interactive elements. This made them more confused when attempting to complete tasks with the app. I found that I had to remind most users that the app is only partially interactive.

6. Most users expected the lo-fi prototype to have polished UI Design.

Most users complained that the lo-fi app prototype did not have images and colours. I didn’t expect this because I had initially explained that the prototype was a basic and initial model of the final product. Perhaps different users have a different idea of what an initial lo-fi prototype looks like than others.

What do you think?

Have you ever faced any of these challenges while conducting a usability study?

If you have, how did you tackle them?

Are any of these common challenges that you face as a UX designer during usability studies in practice?

I would love to hear your opinion. Learning from you will definitely help me know how I can conduct usability studies better in future by using these challenges as a lesson.