User Testing Articles & Videos

  • What Is User Research?

    The goal of user research is to identify ways to improve a product's design based on evidence rather than opinions.

  • International Usability Testing: 3 Factors to Consider

    International usability testing examines how people from different regions use products. For successful testing, decide on the format, ensure clear communication despite language barriers, and select a facilitator familiar with the local context.

  • Affinity Diagramming for Collaboratively Sorting UX Findings and Design Ideas

    Use affinity diagramming to cluster and organize research findings or to sort design ideas in ideation workshops.

  • The Wizard of Oz Method in UX

    The Wizard of Oz is a user-research method where a user interacts with a mock interface controlled, to some degree, by a person.

  • The Aesthetic-Usability Effect

    Users are more tolerant of minor usability issues when they find an interface visually appealing, and this effect can mask UI problems during usability testing.

  • Competitive Usability Evaluations

    Data on what works well or poorly on other sites saves you from implementing useless features and guides UX investments to features that your users need.

  • Data vs. Findings vs. Insights

    Data refers to unanalyzed user observations, findings capture patterns among data points, and insights are the actionable opportunities based on research and business goals.

  • Always Pilot Test User Research Studies

    Running a pilot test for a user research study enables you to assess the study's effectiveness and avoid common problems in the main study.

  • Collecting Sensitive Demographic Data

    Demographic questions related to age, race, gender and income can be sensitive topics for research participants and need to be carefully framed by UX researchers.

  • When Thinking Aloud Fails

    To understand the needs of work-domain experts, use retrospective testing, expert walkthroughs, and interviews instead of think-aloud usability-testing studies.

  • Usability Testing with Users' Personal Information

    Usability Testing benefits from using participants’ personal information, but asking for this requires preparation and consideration.

  • Usability Testing With Older Adults

    When conducting usability testing with older adults, understand your participants’ needs and accommodate them accordingly.

  • Qualitative Usability Testing: Study Guide

    Unsure where to start? Use this collection of links to our articles and videos to learn about planning, conducting, and analyzing qualitative user testing.

  • Remote Usability Testing: Study Guide

    Use this collection of links to our articles and videos to learn about conducting user testing remotely.

  • Between-Subjects vs. Within-Subjects Study Design

    In user research, between-groups designs reduce learning effects; repeated-measures designs require fewer participants and minimize the random noise.

  • Pilot Testing in UX Research

    Pilot testing involves conducting one or two test sessions to evaluate the design of a usability study. It checks for any issues before the actual testing phase, leading to more reliable results.

  • Usability Test Facilitation: 6 Mistakes to Avoid

    Become a better usability testing facilitator by avoiding common missteps, like asking leading questions or reacting to user behavior.

  • Informed Consent for UX Research

    Ethically sound UX research requires informed consent from a research participant. Informed consent means the participant fully understands what the study entails and the potential consequences of participating.

  • Help Users Think Aloud

    Help users think aloud by explaining what it is and why it's useful, reinforcing the behavior, and prompting along the way.

  • Conducting Mobile Accessibility Research with Screen-Reader Users

    Use word of mouth to recruit research participants who rely on screen readers. Conduct the study in person to help participants feel comfortable, and plan to record the screen-reader output.