Writing great tasks for User Research

Usability testing allows you to identify any usability issues, see what users actually do with your product (rather than what they say they do) and determine the participant’s satisfaction with the product experience. The credibility of your results is determined in part by the effectiveness of your tasks. If your tasks are not realistic participants will just go through the motions and won’t fully engage in your test.

So what makes a good task?

Provide context for your tasks

The best way to structure your tasks for participant is to put them into a situation that will best simulate their real life usage context. When people use products and websites in the real world, they do not get explicit step-by-step instructions. Instead, they rely on their past experience and the intuitiveness of the experience to guide them through.

Start by outlining the scenario in which you want your participant to place themselves. This provides them with a purpose and a goal for using the application — as if they were using it in real life.

For example:

“You are in the process of purchasing a new car, and you want to compare insurance rates from different providers. Your friend suggested you check out CarInsurance.com because they got a good rate from them.”

This will make your task relatable and encourage an action, without giving away how the interface should be used.

Ask questions instead of providing directions

The important thing to remember is that you are testing your product’s ability to intuitively guide the participant through a task, not your participant’s ability to follow instructions.

To get an objective understanding of how well your experience performs, it is best to probe your participant with questions as opposed to guiding them with instructions.

For example:

If the primary job for your homepage is to register new users…

• Good: What’s the first thing you notice?
• Bad: Register yourself for this service.

This will better help you understand whether they can complete your intended task, and if they cannot, why that is.

In short, a good task is:

• Contextual
• Actionable
• Non-prescriptive

You will yield more accurate results by getting your participant to show you how they would realistically use the product to accomplish the set goal.

Get your team started running user research — sign up for Field Guide