APPS User Testing

Summary

This 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

00:00

📱 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.

05:01

🔍 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.

10:03

🎯 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.

15:04

🔁 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.

Keywords

💡User Testing

User testing is a process where real users interact with a product to evaluate its usability, functionality, and overall user experience. In the context of the video, user testing is a crucial part of app design and development, ensuring that the app meets the needs and expectations of its target audience. The video mentions various types of user testing, such as usability testing, look and feel testing, and testing of wireframes and prototypes.

💡User-Centered Design

User-centered design is an approach to designing products that focuses on the needs and experiences of the end-users. The video highlights Apple's philosophy from the 1980s as an example of user-centered design, where the technology was made accessible and intuitive for everyday people, as seen in the development of the graphical user interface (GUI).

💡Graphical User Interface (GUI)

A graphical user interface (GUI) is a visual way of interacting with electronic devices, replacing text-based command interfaces. The video explains how Apple's introduction of the GUI with the Macintosh in the 1980s was a significant shift towards making technology more user-friendly, allowing users to interact with computers through visual metaphors like windows, icons, menus, and a pointer.

💡Wireframes

Wireframes are simplified, schematic diagrams of a user interface that outline the placement of elements and the flow of navigation. In the video, wireframes are discussed as a stage in app development where user testing focuses on navigation, task flow, and information architecture to ensure that users can easily find and use key features.

💡Prototypes

Prototypes are preliminary models of a product used to test and refine its design and functionality. The video discusses the importance of testing prototypes to ensure they closely resemble the final product, focusing on usability, visual design elements, user interaction, content clarity, and performance.

💡Usability

Usability refers to how easy it is for users to interact with and accomplish tasks on a product. The video emphasizes the importance of usability testing within the user experience design process to identify and fix issues that could hinder user performance.

💡Look and Feel

Look and feel pertains to the visual aspects and overall aesthetic of a product. In the context of the video, look and feel testing involves evaluating elements such as color schemes, typography, layout, and imagery to ensure they convey the right mood, are legible, and contribute positively to the user experience.

💡Iterative Process

An iterative process is one that involves repeated cycles of development and refinement. The video stresses that user testing should be an iterative process, occurring at multiple stages of app development, from early prototyping to post-launch, to continuously improve the product based on user feedback.

💡User Interface (UI)

User interface (UI) design focuses on the layout, visual elements, and interaction design of a product. The video mentions UI in the context of user testing, where testing the user interface involves evaluating the visual design and branding to ensure they align with the app's goals and user expectations.

💡User Experience (UX)

User experience (UX) encompasses all aspects of how a user interacts with and perceives a product. The video discusses how user testing plays a key role in shaping UX, from testing early concepts to refining the final prototypes to ensure a satisfying and coherent user experience.

💡AB Testing

AB testing, also known as split testing, is a method of comparing two versions of a product to see which performs better. The video uses AB testing as an example of how to test app icons, presenting two versions and comparing their recognizability, simplicity, and color contrast to determine which is more effective.

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