Intake
Determine, with the client, what needs to be tested and how.
Formal User Testing
Testing should be done as early as possible, even when not a lot of material is available. However, there's an important role for formal user testing as well.
Where scrum or guerilla user testing often cover individual screens or sets of screens, formal user testing puts the user in a scenario where an entire process is tested.
So where the result from a quick test can be that the screen is amazing, the formal test could show that the flow is not logical, or there's something missing to complete the process, or the user is unable to complete the process.
In short, formal user testing is still very valuable.
Why
- Prevent expensive design mistakes to make it to the actual product.
- Checking assumptions against real users.
- Grow stakeholder and key user involvement.
Who
- Test facilitator/interviewer
- Process facilitator/test analist
- Prototyper
Conditions
- There is a design that can relatively easily be turned into clickable flows -or-
- There is a running prototype or product that has to be improved.
Client effort
- Is involved in the intake
- Recruits test subjects
- Provides content/case information for the test flows
- Reviews test flows
- Observes during (parts of) the test
- Attends report session
Skills involved
- Determine the profiles of test subjects
- Make a test plan
- Make a test scenario
- Make test scripts
- Prototype
- Facilitate concept testing
- Facilitate usability testing
- Make a test report
Steps
01
02
Test plan
A test plan is written, followed by test scenarios and test scripts. Observation forms are created.
03
Prototyping
A flow with designs is prototyped.
04
Plan test subjects
The test subjects that were provided by the client are planned.
05
Dry run/try out
The test scenarios and test scripts are tested in a dry run. Refinements are made.
06
The actual test
The actual test is run.
07
Evaluation
At the end of each test day the tests are discussed with the attending observants.
08
Test report
The test report is written.
09
Report discussion
The report is discussed with stakeholders.
Deliverable
The client will have access to the test plan, test scenarios and test scripts. The actual deliverable of this building block is a test report.
