usability research Articles & Videos

  • How To Setup a Mobile Usability Test

    There are a lot of elements involved in a mobile usability test. In this video, we'll walk you through an example test setup, including the necessary equipment, and discuss how to prepare for a test.

  • Usability Testing with 5 Users: ROI Criteria (video 2 of 3)

    The number of test participants for qualitative usability testing that optimizes return-on-investment is determined by 2 parameters: the facilitator's observational skills and the design team's speed when generating the next design iteration.

  • How to Test Visual Design

    Visual design details like fonts and colors can have subtle but important effects on the overall user experience. Use research methods that are sensitive to these effects to test your visual design.

  • The Word "Validate" Undermines UX Effectiveness

    Our words define UX research goals for users, stakeholders, and teams. Turning UX research into improved design is already challenging. Why make it more so by setting unsuitable expectations with the words we use to describe research?

  • How to Setup a Desktop Usability Test

    There are a lot of elements involved in usability studies with a desktop computer. In this video, we'll walk you through an example test setup, including the necessary equipment, and discuss how to prepare for a test.

  • When to Use Which UX Research Method

    Don’t just do usability tests. Do what you need. Consider five criteria to help you determine the most effective UX research method to use for your situation, to meet research goals, and achieve desired outcomes.

  • User Testing: Why & How (Jakob Nielsen)

    There is no excuse for not performing usability studies. They’re fast and cheap, and very convincing. Test with representative customers using realistic tasks, then be amazed by what you observe.

  • User Testing Facilitation Techniques

    Facilitate better usability studies with these 3 techniques: Echo, Boomerang, and Columbo. These methods allow you to get clarification from participants with minimal disruption or bias.

  • Writing Tasks for Quantitative and Qualitative Usability Studies

    All usability studies involve asking participants to perform tasks, but the correct way to write those tasks depends on the methodology you’re using. Good quantitative tasks are concrete and focused, while good qualitative tasks are open-ended, flexible, and exploratory.

  • Avoid Leading Questions to Get Better Insights from Participants

    In user research, the facilitator's choice of words can affect the participants' feedback or behavior.

  • You Are Not the User: The False-Consensus Effect

    Designers, developers, and even UX researchers fall prey to the false-consensus effect, projecting their behaviors and reactions onto users.

  • Usefulness, Utility, Usability: 3 Goals of UX Design (Jakob Nielsen)

    For products to be useful, they must have both utility and usability. Either UX quality alone won't cut it.

  • From Research Goals to Usability-Testing Scenarios: A 7-Step Method

    Developing goals for a usability study, deciding what to test, and crafting user scenarios can be challenging. This method makes the process straightforward.

  • Paper Prototyping: How to Create & Usability-Test Simple UI Prototypes (Tutorial)

    Create low-fidelity, low-commitment rapid user interface prototypes to can get early user feedback. Video shows how to conduct user testing of these simulated screens, with examples of the kinds of usability problems you can discover by testing different kinds of prototypes.