How usability testing plays an important role in a company’s success

The success of a product and in turn, of a company is determined by the experience that customers have when they use the said product. Whether it delivers the experience that it is meant to and delights users as intended, is the surest test of the product’s potential success in the market. Since usability is integral to the success of a product, it is imperative that customer needs are kept front and centre of product development.

Usability Testing defined

Usability testing refers to the interaction between potential users with a product prototype before the product development is fully completed and launched. It is a method to evaluate how a set of representative users akin to real users interact with the prototype of a software or website under development. The interaction is observed by a researcher who records instances when the users face challenges. The primary goals of the researchers are to ascertain whether:

1. Users can complete their test tasks on their own, without any help
2. The ease with which the tasks can be performed
3. The users enjoy using it
4. Problems, if any with the product and its performance

This information is used to resolve the issues found. It is usually performed in repeated iterations till the product is user-friendly for customers and meets their needs.

Why usability testing

The ultimate objective of usability testing is to improve the usability of the product. Gauging the user experience before the product hits the market is beneficial as it saves effort in terms of both time and money spent on bug fixes and unnecessary iterations. It makes the product more robust and stronger in terms of its potential to be a success among competing products. Usability tests help detect and fix problems early when they require minimal rework and ultimately the product design gets aligned to the requirements of the end-users. UX designers on their own cannot design the perfect experience for users unless they receive their inputs and feedback. Iterative feedback is required to align various variables that affect the performance of a product so that end users have the perfect experience when the product is released.

Advantages

Usability testing is highly recommended for all software products and websites as it helps identify incongruencies between the needs of users and the way the product is designed or performs. Building a prototype and ironing out flaws with usability testing indicates if the product and its features are feasible. This helps save thousands of person-hours of work and the associated cost too. Apart from this, it helps plan the project and its timelines and minimises the need for re-work.

It does not just help in saving time and money, it has several powerful benefits too:

1. Minimises the risk of failure of a product – Feedback from representative users is used to iron out the deficiencies in the product, so it is virtually guaranteed that the product will meet the expected performance standards of users.
2. Knowing the customer profile – It helps businesses learn more about their customers and their requirements and expectations from the product so that they can make informed decisions about a product and its roadmap for the future.
3. Data-backed validation of product features – Even the best companies in the world, despite the availability of the best qualitative and quantitative market research, err in making products that meet customers’ expectations. Availability of real data gathered from iterative usability testing helps in validating a product and its features at every step of the product development cycle.
4. Repeat users – When a product meets users’ expectations, it also improves the possibility of new and repeat users utilizing the product, helping the business achieve its goals.

Summary

Though usability testing is not perfectly representational of the real-world, it comes closest to ascertaining its utility and intuitiveness before the product hits the market. It is the best way to de-risk any business and ensures the product’s success when it is released. Enhanced user experiences greatly benefit businesses as it helps earn the loyalty of customers as well as their recommendations which in turn leads to the acquisition of new users.