Contrary to popular belief Usability Testing is not expensive and it is not limited to Designers. Product teams can use it to create solutions based on objective evidence that comes directly from the users.

1. Validate your Product with
Usability Testing
BY NEARSOFT UXTEAM

2. HOST
Kim Lantis
Content Coordinator
@kimlantis
PRESENTER
Diana Arvayo
UX Researcher
@dianonina
PRESENTER
Mónica Tye
Product Owner
@monicatyeb

4. Agenda
- Major Challenge for Software Development Teams
- How Usability Testing helps teams validate products
- Case Study: Retrospectives
- Takeaways
- Q&A
#NearsoftUXwebinar
VALIDATE YOUR PRODUCT WITH USABILITY TESTING

5. CHALLENGE
REWORK
50% of programmers’ time
during a project is spent
doing rework!
VALIDATE YOUR PRODUCT WITH USABILITY TESTING

6. With UX you save money by
reducing rework.
VALIDATE YOUR PRODUCT WITH USABILITY TESTING
CHALLENGE
REWORK

7. For every $1 invested in UX,
the ROI can be anywhere
from $10 to $100!
VALIDATE YOUR PRODUCT WITH USABILITY TESTING
CHALLENGE
REWORK

8. Myth
VALIDATE YOUR PRODUCT WITH USABILITY TESTING

9. VALIDATE YOUR PRODUCT WITH USABILITY TESTING
Reality

10. Bye, bye!!!
VALIDATE YOUR PRODUCT WITH USABILITY TESTING

11. Usability Testing
How people use your product and for what purpose
VALIDATE YOUR PRODUCT WITH USABILITY TESTING

12. Usability Testing
What people say vs. what people do
VALIDATE YOUR PRODUCT WITH USABILITY TESTING

13. Hangouts or Skype
Record the Audio
VALIDATE YOUR PRODUCT WITH USABILITY TESTING
Tasks & Script

14. VALIDATE YOUR PRODUCT WITH USABILITY TESTING
Case Study

15. VALIDATE YOUR PRODUCT WITH USABILITY TESTING
● Launch a product
● User Retention
● Validate Ideas
When Should I
Use Usability
Testing

16. 1. Set the goal
2. Define the audience
3. Write the tasks you will test
4. Prepare the setting and recording
devices
5. Run the session
6. Analyze the findings
7. Iterate
How to Run a
Usability Test?
VALIDATE YOUR PRODUCT WITH USABILITY TESTING

17. VALIDATE YOUR PRODUCT WITH USABILITY TESTING
1. Set the Goal
● Set the goal based on your prototype
● Features to test
● Workflows (Login, Edit, etc)

18. VALIDATE YOUR PRODUCT WITH USABILITY TESTING
Our goal with usability tests was to
determine if our add-on was user friendly
and intuitive, and if the features we had
in mind were valuable to users.
1. Set the Goal

19. VALIDATE YOUR PRODUCT WITH USABILITY TESTING

20. VALIDATE YOUR PRODUCT WITH USABILITY TESTING
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21. VALIDATE YOUR PRODUCT WITH USABILITY TESTING
● New or returning?
● Ask for lists of people who have contacted customer service or
the help desk
● Look for users in their natural habitat
● Use Social Media for example MeetUp!, Linkedin Groups,
Slack Communities
● Reward them :)
2. Define Audience & Recruit Participants

22. VALIDATE YOUR PRODUCT WITH USABILITY TESTING
2. Define Audience & Recruit Participants
● Familiar with Confluence
● Had participated in Retrospective
sessions with their teams

23. VALIDATE YOUR PRODUCT WITH USABILITY TESTING
3. Write Tasks You Will Test
● Consider the goal of the study
● Leave out clues or hints
● Avoid having micro-steps
● Give the test participant a goal but avoid describing the steps

24. VALIDATE YOUR PRODUCT WITH USABILITY TESTING
3. Write Tasks You Will Test
● Right and wrong during the sprint
● Grouping similar ideas
● Voting for the most important ideas
● Creating Action items
● Getting a summary of the retrospective

25. VALIDATE YOUR PRODUCT WITH USABILITY TESTING
4. Prepare the Setting and Recording Devices
● Friendly reminder
● Practice reading your script aloud
● Identify if you need an observer. If not, be sure to have an audio
recording device (your phone will be useful for that)
● Set up (location, internet, battery, etc.)

26. VALIDATE YOUR PRODUCT WITH USABILITY TESTING
● InVision Prototype
● Recording screen by using QuickTime
● Development team took notes as observers
● Printed out script
4. Prepare the Setting and Recording Devices

27. Retrospective’s Prototype

28. VALIDATE YOUR PRODUCT WITH USABILITY TESTING
5. Run the Session
● Make them feel comfortable
● We are evaluating the product, not you
● Your feedback will help us improve the product
● Make them aware that you will be quiet most of the time
● Instruct users to speak while working
● Avoid explaining or defending the product
● Avoid answering questions, rather ask, “What do you think?”

29. VALIDATE YOUR PRODUCT WITH USABILITY TESTING
5. Run the Session
● 7 Usability Tests
● InVision Prototype

35. VALIDATE YOUR PRODUCT WITH USABILITY TESTING
6. Analyze the Findings
● Review by task
● Study how the user reacted (emotions or expressions)
● How many participants ran into the same issues?
● What the user was trying to do vs. What the user did
● Which tasks were most (un)successful? Why?
● Are users successful, but slow?

36. VALIDATE YOUR PRODUCT WITH USABILITY TESTING
6. Analyze the Findings
● Add instructions in some steps
● Users needed someone in the retrospective to be a moderator
to guide the team through the steps

40. 1. Validated features
2. Prioritized backlog
3. Discovered a need for new
features
4. Reduced rework
Benefits of
Usability Testing
VALIDATE YOUR PRODUCT WITH USABILITY TESTING

41. 1. Put your assumptions to the test
2. Involve other team members
3. Don’t take all feedback literally. Don’t attempt to
fix all the issues you found, focus on critical errors
first
4. Include User Testing in your next sprint planning
5. Test again, again, and again!!!
TAKEAWAYS:
Validate
your Product
with
Usability
Testing
VALIDATE YOUR PRODUCT WITH USABILITY TESTING

42. “Usability is about people and
how they understand and use
things, not about technology.”
VALIDATE YOUR PRODUCT WITH USABILITY TESTING
― Steve Krug

43. Thanks! Want to know More?
Contact Sandra at (408) 890-2115
ux.nearsoft.com
VALIDATE YOUR PRODUCT WITH USABILITY TESTING
ux-team@nearsoft.com

44. Want to try out our
Retrospectives add-on?
Download it at Atlassian’s Marketplace and start
running your retro sessions inside Confluence!