APPS User Testing
Summary
TLDRThis lecture podcast focuses on user testing for app design, emphasizing its evolution and importance in UX and UI practices. It traces the history of user testing, highlighting Apple's pioneering role in prioritizing user-centered design. The podcast discusses various testing types, reasons for testing at different stages, and how to test aspects like look and feel, app icons, wireframes, and prototypes. It also covers the use of tools like heat maps, remote testing, and eye tracking to gain insights into user interactions. The goal is to improve usability, functionality, design validation, and user satisfaction through iterative testing and feedback.
Takeaways
- 🔍 User testing is pivotal for app design and development, ensuring usability and functionality.
- 📱 Apple in the 1980s was a pioneer in user-centered design, emphasizing accessibility and intuitiveness.
- 🖥 The introduction of the graphical user interface (GUI) by Apple marked a significant shift towards user-friendly technology.
- 🔧 User testing involves an iterative process that occurs at multiple stages, from early prototyping to post-launch.
- 👁️🗨️ The purpose of user testing includes improving usability, ensuring functionality, verifying design choices, refining look and feel, and enhancing user satisfaction.
- 🎨 Look and feel testing evaluates aspects like color schemes, typography, layout, and imagery to ensure they enrich the user experience.
- 📊 AB testing is a simple methodology for comparing two versions of an app icon to determine which is more effective.
- 🧭 Wireframe testing focuses on navigation, task flow, and information architecture to ensure users can easily access key features.
- 🛠️ Final prototype testing assesses user interaction, content clarity, performance, and compliance with design standards.
- 📊 Types of usability testing include remote testing, moderated feedback sessions, unmoderated software testing, and both qualitative and quantitative analysis.
- 🔄 The importance of iteration and continuous improvement in the design process, based on user feedback, cannot be overstated.
Q & A
What is the significance of user testing in app development?
-User testing is crucial for developing an effective app as it helps ensure that the app is not only functional but also delivers a satisfying user experience. It involves evaluating an app by testing it with real users at various stages, allowing for continuous improvement and refinement of the product.
How has user testing evolved over the years?
-User testing has evolved significantly, with pioneers like Apple in the 1980s prioritizing user-centered design principles. Apple's philosophy was clear that their technology should be accessible and intuitive for everyday people, which was reflected in the design of the original Mac with the introduction of the graphical user interface (GUI).
What role did Apple play in the history of user testing?
-Apple was a pioneer in user testing, setting itself apart from other tech companies by prioritizing user-centered design principles. They relied heavily on diverse groups of users to improve their products through usability studies, observation, and refining interfaces based on feedback.
What are the main reasons for conducting user testing?
-The main reasons for conducting user testing include improving usability, ensuring functionality, verifying that the app works as expected, validating design choices, refining the look and feel with the target audience, and enhancing user satisfaction or experience.
What are the different aspects of an app that are tested during user testing?
-During user testing, aspects such as the look and feel, app icons, wireframes, and final prototypes are tested. Each aspect is evaluated for elements like color scheme, typography, layout, recognizability, simplicity, navigation, task flow, information architecture, user interaction, content clarity, and compliance with design standards.
What is the purpose of testing the look and feel of an app?
-Testing the look and feel of an app is done to ensure that elements like color scheme, typography, and layout convey the right mood or emotion, are legible and size-appropriate, and have a clear visual hierarchy. The goal is to enrich the user experience without causing confusion.
How is user testing conducted for app icons?
-User testing for app icons involves checking recognizability, simplicity, and color contrast. The aim is to ensure the icon is clear, distinguishable, and makes sense even when scaled down, and that it stands out against different backgrounds.
What methods are used to test wireframes during app development?
-To test wireframes, methods such as form-based questionnaires and observation tests are used. These involve asking users to complete tasks, recording their interactions, and reviewing the results to gather feedback on the app's layout and navigation.
What types of usability testing are mentioned in the script?
-The script mentions various types of usability testing including remote testing, moderated feedback sessions, unmoderated automated software testing, qualitative testing (involving facial expressions, observations, interviews, and surveys), and quantitative testing (measuring task completion times).
Why is it important to test at different stages of app development?
-Testing at different stages of app development is important because it allows for validation of the basic structure in early prototyping, usability and look and feel testing in mid-development, and pre-launch testing to refine the final prototype. Post-launch, continuous testing helps gather feedback and identify areas for improvement.
What is the iterative nature of user testing as described in the script?
-The iterative nature of user testing means that it occurs multiple times at various stages of development, from early prototyping to post-launch. It involves an ongoing process of gathering feedback, identifying areas for improvement, and refining the design accordingly.
Outlines
📱 User Testing in App Design
This paragraph introduces the topic of user testing within the context of app design. It emphasizes the importance of user testing at various stages of the design process, including testing the look and feel, app icons, wireframes, and final prototypes. The history of user testing is briefly touched upon, highlighting Apple's pioneering role in the 1980s with user-centered design principles. The paragraph also discusses the evolution of user testing tools and techniques, from early observations and questioning to modern methods like heat maps, remote testing, and eye tracking. The goal of user testing is to improve usability, ensure functionality, validate design choices, refine the look and feel, and enhance user satisfaction.
🔍 The Purpose of User Testing
Paragraph 2 delves into the specific reasons for conducting user testing, such as uncovering problems, discovering opportunities, learning about user behavior, and enhancing user experience. It differentiates between UX (user experience) and UI (user interface) testing, with usability testing being a part of UX design. The paragraph outlines what to test for in look and feel tests, app icon testing, and wireframe testing. It also introduces different testing methods, including form-based feedback, observation tests, and AB testing, emphasizing the iterative nature of user testing to refine the app's design and functionality.
🎯 Testing the Final Prototypes
The third paragraph focuses on the final phase of user testing, which involves testing high-fidelity prototypes that closely resemble the final product. It discusses the importance of testing for usability and visual design elements, including user interaction, content clarity, performance, and compliance with design standards. The paragraph also outlines various types of usability testing methods, such as remote testing, moderated feedback sessions, automated software testing, and both qualitative and quantitative testing. The emphasis is on the qualitative aspect, which includes surveys, interviews, and observing user reactions to gather detailed feedback.
🔁 Iterative Process of User Testing
The final paragraph summarizes the iterative nature of user testing, which occurs at multiple stages of app development, from early prototyping to pre-launch and post-launch phases. It reiterates that user testing is crucial for ensuring both functionality and a satisfying user experience. The paragraph concludes with a visual representation of the user testing process, emphasizing the continuous improvement cycle based on feedback and design iteration.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡User Testing
💡User-Centered Design
💡Graphical User Interface (GUI)
💡Wireframes
💡Prototypes
💡Usability
💡Look and Feel
💡Iterative Process
💡User Interface (UI)
💡User Experience (UX)
💡AB Testing
Highlights
User testing for apps is crucial for design people to explore various types of testing and reasons for testing at different stages.
Apple in the 1980s prioritized user-centered design principles, setting a standard for user interface design.
The graphical user interface (GUI) allowed users to interact with computers through visual metaphors, marking a shift from engineer-centric to designer-centric interfaces.
User testing and feedback played a central role in shaping Apple's interface, emphasizing intuitive use for everyday people.
Today, companies use tools like heat maps, remote testing, and eye tracking to gain insights into user interactions with digital products.
User testing is an ongoing process to refine products, focusing on usability, functionality, design validation, and user satisfaction.
Testing uncovers problems, discovers opportunities, and helps understand user behavior with the product.
User testing is part of user experience (UX) design and involves usability testing, UI design, and branding.
Look and feel testing checks color schemes, typography, layout, and imagery for enriching the user experience.
App icon testing focuses on recognizability, simplicity, and color contrast to ensure the icon's effectiveness.
Wireframe testing evaluates navigation, task flow, and information architecture to ensure key features are easily accessible.
Final prototype testing focuses on usability, visual design elements, user interaction, content clarity, and performance.
Types of usability testing include remote testing, moderated feedback sessions, and both qualitative and quantitative testing methods.
User testing should be iterative, occurring at multiple stages from early prototyping to post-launch for continuous improvement.
Testing ensures the app is not only functional but also delivers a satisfying user experience through iteration.
User testing is multifaceted and crucial for developing effective apps, involving testing at different stages for a coherent user experience.
Transcripts
hi there and welcome back to ID apps in
this lecture pod we're going to be
covering uh user testing for apps um and
I've tried to make it specifically for
us as design people we'll explore the
various types of testing the reasons why
we test at different stages and how to
test aspects such as the look and feel
app icons wireframes and final
prototypes we'll also look at some lists
of what to test for in each f
so let's get
going let's start with a bit bit of a
history of user testing um user testing
has evolved significantly over the years
one of the earliest Pioneers or maybe
the instigators of it of user experience
design and user interface design is
obviously Apple in the 1980s Apple set
itself apart from other tech companies
by prioritizing user centered design
principles Apple phos ophy was clear
that their technology should be
accessible and intuitive for the
everyday person and it was reflected in
the design of the original Max which
introduced the graphical user interface
or the guey which you probably have
heard of and unlike you know terminal or
command line interfaces that you have to
memorize all the text commands Apple's
guey and we can see the other one there
on the screen allowed um users to
interact with computers through some
visual metaphors things such as the wimp
Windows icons menus and the pointer um
this marked it a dramatic shift from
Engineers making the thing to designers
making uh the interface for users and so
as part of this user testing and
feedback played a central role in
shaping what the interface is and even
if you think about it now um the visual
metaphor of the desktop
is something that's trying to make using
a computer very intuitive to people um
it seems very um intuitive now like we
can't imagine life without it um but it
has come from various amounts of user
testing and coming up with uh visual
metaphors for people to use that they
immediately understand so Apple over
time in their brief in this brief sort
of history of them have relied very very
heavily on diverse groups of users to
improve their products they've done
usability studies they do observation of
people using their prototypes they
identify the pain points they refine
their interfaces based on what they find
out and as a result they have kind of
led the way in user interface design um
today companies use a variety of tools
things like heat Maps like where people
are going on the screen um remote
testing videoing them observation eye
tracking session recording screen
recording all sorts of things to gain
insights about how users interact with
digital products um but the the early uh
user testing really did involve a lot of
observation and
questioning okay so that's our brief
history um so in ter terms of the the
testing why was their approach
revolutionary it's because it was user
centered so it emphasized how users
interacted with their devices as a new
standard for user testing and it
was great because it also involved this
iterative idea that you iterate your
designs based on what the user feedback
or user testing tells you so this lays
the groundwork for how we think about
user testing in ux and UI practices
today okay so let's get on to user
testing more broadly it's a key part
hopefully I convince you of that of app
design and development it involves
evaluating an app by testing it with
real users at various stages um it's not
just a one-off event but it's an ongoing
process to refine products um so why do
we test we're going to improve the
usability we're going to ensure the
functionality so we're going to verify
that the app works as you expected it to
and we at that stage would identify any
bugs or unexpected behaviors we would
validate the Design's choices we say yes
that Design's choice of that layout or
that flow or that color uh works well so
we would say yes that we've gone well
with that we'd also use it to refine the
look and feel with our target audience
so we get some responses on that and
would also enhance the user satisfaction
or experience so a well tested app
generally leads to a better uh user
experience all around so it enhances the
user experience from the Geto so they're
the main five reasons why we would use a
test um you can see just up in the
corner there I've put we would use it to
uncover problems discover any
opportunities that we might have missed
so our users quite often will say oh if
nice if I could do this now or where's
the share button or something like that
and we would do it also to learn about
what our users do with our project so
we're learning about users as we do the
user testing as well okay user testing
just in context we can see here
um in this re brief we've got ux versus
UI and you've probably seen this in a
lecture pod before so usability testing
so user testing usability testing
different word um um is part of what we
do for the user experience design so
when we do usability testing and we're
going to move on to that with our
wireframe testings this week um we're
looking at usability testing in the
wireframes the UI or the user interface
which is the layout as we know the
visual design and The Branding is
another part of our testing that we do
at different stages in our development
cycle all right so user
testing what do we test we test the and
feel so in a look and feel test we would
definitely check things and we did this
with our branding not our branding our
style guide review so we definitely test
the color
scheme uh does it convey the right mood
or emotion we would test the typography
so things like legibility and size is
important there or it doesn't match the
apps tone we would definitely test
things like the layout is the visual
hierarchy and I keep going on about that
clear the imagery do the images and
icons enrich the user experience or do
they confuse it so that's the look and
feel and they're the main aims for our
look and feel
testing and you can see the look and
feel kind of comes at some part of your
app development early on um in terms of
the next slide let's just go um we would
test our app icons which we've done in
class as well um things to test for for
testing app icons would be the
recognizability is it recognizable does
it tell us what the app's purpose is and
we did an extensive test on that in week
uh nine uh Simplicity is the icon clear
distinguishable you know can we scale it
down and still make sense of it the
color and contrast does it stand out
against different backgrounds um so
there are three main things that we do
with testing app icons and you can see
up there in the corner of the slide
there's an AB testing going which is
just means here's one version here's
another version which one works better
so that's a very simple app icon testing
methodology there comparing an AB
version you've obviously heard of AB
testing next one um we would test our
wireframes and that's what we're up to
next so you see we've got some style
guide testing some app icon testing now
we're going on to the wireframes once
the apps starting to be flashed out
and in terms of testing wireframes we
would definitely test the navigation
because that's very important can your
users find all of your key features
easily um can you give them a task to
complete like you know a search or a
sign up and so we would check the task
flow there so can they do the things
that your app is designed to do um we
would also test the information
architecture is there a logical
organization to it or to people kind of
have to look for for things on your app
um so for example um a form based
feedback would be used in this testing
phase to gather your user testing
responses on your wireframes layout
asking questions like where would you
click to find the settings or you might
even give them a task to go through so
in terms of how you would test the
wireframes a form based questionnaire is
easy because people can do it at their
own pace you could also do an
observation test where you video or
screen grab people going through your um
your app wireframes and then you would
review them and then write up your
results afterwards as as part of that so
couple of ways to do that um next one
we'll look at is testing the final
prototypes so this will be our last
phase of testing for us um so for
testing our final
prototypes um they have to be closely
resembling the final product so they're
high high fidelity but we're going to
this would focus both on the usability
and the visual design elements so the
things that you would test here are the
user interaction are the buttons and
interactive elements intuitive to use
content Clarity is the language clear
and appropriate for your target audience
um you would test some performance
things like are the animations and trans
transition Smo smooth and I I've left
off there but a fourth category might be
to test whether the UI elements are
compliant with either iOS or material
design standards so compliance with
interface design standards for apps
would be a fourth one
there all right so types of usability
testing and you can see here I've got a
range of methods
um and how they apply to the different
stages of app design we can see we've
got remote testing so that would include
things like recording people um we could
do that in person as well so we could
Monitor and make a report about them
that's the first two circles next one a
ux researcher might moderate some
feedback session you might have some
automated software which is unmoderated
to kind of run through and there quite a
lot of uh those springing up in the last
year that will run your wi frames
through a test or your wife FR but your
prototype through a test to make sure
it's compliant um and then the third one
the qualitative and quantitative testing
where in qualitative we might look at
people's facial expressions facial
expressions were a big part of Apple's
testing they could tell when people were
frustrated CU they were frowning or they
didn't look impressed and you could tell
when when people are delighted using
your project because they're generally
smiling or have a change in energy state
so in the quality of stuff we might also
do other observations we would do
interviews and surveys and that's the
main methodology that we're using the
apps class this year um interviews and
surveys and generally within the class
but you can see there the bottom one um
there and quantity of stuff where you
could measure how long it took people to
complete tasks and sort of time them and
that sort of thing so there's six kind
of little circles with different types
of usability testing there are many more
but for us uh the most important one to
keep in mind is this third one here the
qualitative where we're going to do
surveys and interviews we might look at
people's facial expressions or observe
them using it for more finer feedback
um may not be as useful as our surveys
at this stage all right
so when you're doing your user testing
what are you testing for you're testing
for your look and
feel you're testing your wireframes for
the user interface and um and flow
you're testing your prototype for the
user experience design to make sure that
all of that that comes together into a
coherent hole so there are three phases
in this class if
if we'd launched the app we would also
do testing and feedback after it's
launched and there would definitely be
an alpha beta and so on versions and
it's quite iterative as we get um bugs
come in or suggestions come in from
users as they get used to using the app
now next one um so just to sort of
finalize what we've been through and
this has been very brief uh testing
should always be an iterative process
that just means you do it multiple times
it it occurs at multiple
stages it occurs in the early
prototyping um and that's for our
wireframes and it validates the basic
structure it happens in mid development
so the usability look and feel things
that undertaken on more developed
prototypes it it's also undertaken in
pre-launch Phase so there might be an AB
testing there might be a beta there
might be an exploratory test on the
final
prototype by different members of your
team like maybe the software engineering
part as opposed to just your users and
post launch as I mentioned earlier you
would continuously use testing to gather
feedback and identify areas for your um
apps
Improvement all right so let's just
finish off this short pod with a little
bit of flow here user testing as you now
probably understand is a multifaceted
process it's crucial for developing an
effective app and by testing at
different stages from the look and feel
to the final prototypes you can ensure
that the app not only is functional but
is it also develop uh delivers a
satisfying user experience so just the
main thing to remember here is that
testing is really about iteration and
continuous
Improvement um and you can see in this
di or this diagram flow usability test
happens for the concept it happens for
the design itself the look and feel it
happens to the Prototype and it happens
uh prior to the release as well but in
terms of that you know based on the
feedback there's always an iteration in
the design uh process that happens okay
so thanks for listening I kept it short
and I will see you in class
تصفح المزيد من مقاطع الفيديو ذات الصلة
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)