Usability Testing: A Better User Experience

Nowadays new technologies have completely changed the way people do things. The Internet and various devices have made it possible to buy and sell products as well as services at any time and any location. Consequentially, a heavy number of e-commerce and other utility websites have appeared and continue to compete. Now, many of these websites and applications work just fine, however, many times the user finds these products too complicated for the use.

To provide excellent user experience whether it is an e-commerce website or a Government website; competitors should have a fair balance between the numbers of features and their ease of usage. It’s nice to have numerous features, but these features should be user-friendly to retain the user base. Hence Usability Testing is a significant QA activity which testers should invariably perform before launching their product in the market.

Usability testing involves testing a product to see if it is easy to understand, easy to use and also to test its effectiveness from end user’s perspective. It is a black box testing technique.

An Example

There is a huge competition between various web applications as well as mobile applications to rule the business world. If their product or application is not efficient & simple to use then, a user can easily switch to another product or application.

For example: If a shopping website asks a user to enter so many details i.e. PAN Card Number, Passport Number, Vehicle Number, his/her Parents’ Name, etc. then it will be quite boring for the user to fill all the details and he may immediately switch to any other shopping portal.

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So it is necessary to make a product or an application user-friendly. Hence, testers need to do Usability testing for a better user experience.

When It is quite clear that the earlier tester catches the bug, the lesser it produces the cost. Like any other testing, usability testing should also start early. It should start at the initial level of the design and should be carried till the end phase of the project to ensure a strong design and a better experience for the real user.

Who Usability testing can be performed by Developers, Testers, and Designers or by anyone who has complete knowledge of the application. Some organization even hire people, like SMEs, and ask them to use the product. They are asked to share their experience and suggestions for improvements if any.

How While performing usability testing, one should ensure that system should provide a smooth user journey, keeping the functional behavior intact. One should know who the target users of application or product are. So that the tester can try to mimic their behavior. Usability testers perform testing activity by considering themselves as a user and use the application in the way that is relevant to the users, so that they can make the user feel comfortable with the product.

Every organization should go for the Usability Testing before the product reaches the market. If a product does not provide a good user experience then no matter how useful the product is, users will tend to avoid it. Apart from functionality, the focus should be laid on the usability of the product also.