An Introduction to Usability Testing for Software QA

Have you ever used an app or a website and found it difficult to use? The page looked off, the features didn't function as you expected them to, or the overall experience was off-putting or even drove you a little bit mad? A bad user experience is something many businesses dread. This is why usability testing is a vital component of software QA testing and the overall software development cycle.

In this article, we cover the basics of usability testing, why it matters in software quality assurance, and how to implement it to ensure your software provides a positive user experience. 

What is usability testing?

Usability testing is a form of non-functional testing that involves real users to test and evaluate a product. 

It evaluates the extent to which a software product can be used by users to achieve specific goals with effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction in a specified context of use. Usability problems can lead to confusion, error, delay, or failure to complete user tasks. In medical systems, where safety is of critical importance, these software defects can even lead to injuries or death. 

Essentially, usability testing is a crucial component of software quality assurance that focuses on how easily users can interact with and navigate a product. Software products can work as per defined specifications, but can also have some serious usability problems. For example, a music app allows users to create playlists, but they still may find the whole process too difficult and annoying. This usability issue makes the app complicated and confusing, and may eventually deter users from using the product in the future. 

The goal of QA professionals is not just to find shortcomings, but also to ensure the software provides a positive user experience. By observing how users interact with the product and attempt to complete typical tasks, we can find out how easily they can navigate interfaces, overcome obstacles they encounter, and gauge whether they can effectively complete the core tasks they came to do. 

Additionally, you have to keep in mind that different categories of users can have different goals, experiences and expectations from the same product. For example, students and accountants can have very different expectations from the same spreadsheet program and your usability testing techniques should recognize these important distinctions.

The three main aspects of usability testing you should focus on are: 

1. Identifying usability problems in the design

This is often the primary goal of usability testing and helps uncover issues that may not be apparent to designers or developers. This entails rooting out errors like confusing navigation structures, unclear labeling, inconsistent design elements, and features that are difficult to discover or use. Proper UX design will enhance the overall usability of your product.

2. Collecting quantitative data on user performance

While qualitative observations are crucial, quantitative data provides measurable benchmarks for usability. This involves looking at task competition rates, time spent on actions, how often users make mistakes, and the number of clicks taken to complete a task, just to name a few.

3. Determining user satisfaction levels

Additionally, usability testing seeks to understand how users feel about their interaction with the product. This involves assessing the overall user experience, how easily users found tasks, and the likelihood that users would recommend using the platform in the future.

You may be interested in: Top 10 Mobile Usability Issues

Why is usability testing important?

Products that are difficult to use or unintuitive quickly fall out of favor with users regardless of their technical merits. And according to a 2020 report, good UX could make a positive impact on sales. Users expect software to not just meet functional expectations, but also to provide an efficient and enjoyable experience. 

For example, if you run an e-commerce website, users not being able to find a product or not understanding how to make a purchase can spell disaster, through lost sales and lost customers. Usability testing looks to make sure your products are optimized to deliver time and time again and keep your customers coming back for more. 

When evaluating your product's usability you should consider these 3 things:

1. Efficiency. Can the user accomplish tasks quickly and efficiently?

2. Effectiveness. Can the user complete tasks accurately, without making many mistakes?

3. Satisfaction. Did the user have a pleasant experience?

Remember, poor usability and a bad user experience can lead to user frustration, decreased productivity, and ultimately, product failure.

Key elements of usability testing

When conducting usability tests, several key elements come into play and it is important to make sure that you have the right setup to ensure your tests produce valuable information that can help you improve your product and design. These are the key aspects of a usability test to focus on to get it right the first time:

Test participants

First, selecting the right participants is crucial. These should be individuals who represent your target audience, with varying levels of tech-savviness and domain knowledge.

Set realistic tasks

Design scenarios that reflect actual use cases. Designing realistic tasks that mirror actual use cases provides the most valuable insights. It's also important to create a controlled testing environment, minimizing distractions and variables that could skew results.

Get valuable feedback

This is where you get insights that raw data alone cannot provide. Data is great for benchmarking and development improvements, but to truly have a winning product with a competitive edge you need insights that ensure your platform is providing a pleasant experience.

Types of usability testing

There are various approaches to usability testing, each with its own strengths and limitations. What is certain is that there is always a right fit for each organization and working with teams of experts can help you execute your UX & usability evaluation effectively. When setting up usability testing, here is a quick guide to the types you can choose:

1. Moderated tests

Moderated tests run in real-time and have a coordinator present throughout the session, guiding the participant through the process. This method allows for on-the-spot questions from both the user and the coordinator, allowing for deeper probing into the user's thoughts and actions. Additionally, test protocol can be adjusted quickly when encountering unexpected issues and behaviors. This level of on-the-spot control offers rich qualitative data further enhanced by the coordinator's ability to read non-verbal cues from testers during testing. The downside to this method is that there can be higher costs and greater time restrictions on testing. Additionally, inexperienced coordinators can be prone to biases that impact test data.

2. Unmoderated tests

Unmoderated tests are conducted without direct coordinator involvement. Participants complete tasks independently, often using specialized software to record their actions and thoughts. This is much more cost-effective than moderated testing, and allows for larger testing samples. There is also the added benefit of being able to see how users interact in their own settings, potentially yielding more realistic results. This does, however, come at the cost of less flexibility and depth of insights compared to moderated sessions.

3. Remote testing

Remote testing offers convenience and a broader geographical reach as participants can be recruited anywhere with a stable internet connection. Similar to unmoderated testing, the costs associated are lower and the testing pool is larger. This comes at the cost of not high levels of controls and oversight as users are split so far, moderation through video testing can help with this, however.

4. In-person testing

In-person testing on the other hand allows for more nuanced observation of user behavior and body language. This method involves bringing users to a central testing lab and has some strong advantages from direct observation, total environmental control, and the ability to provide standardized quality tested device setups not reliant on the user-provided devices and connections.

5. Formative testing

Formative testing is conducted early and throughout the development process. Its primary goal is to identify usability issues and areas for improvement while the product is still being shaped. This allows for improvements to be easily worked into the development process, increases flexibility, and allows for an emphasis on the user experience over just relying on data metrics later in development.

6. Summative testing

Summative testing, on the other hand, is typically conducted later in the development cycle, often near the end or after product completion. Its primary goal is to evaluate the overall usability of the product against predefined metrics or benchmarks. This has some major benefits such as allowing for evaluation against existing competitor benchmarks, having a strong focus on quantitative data, and allows for large sample sizes.

Choosing the right type of testing for your organization depends on research goals, budget factors, timelines, demographics, and the nature of the product being put to test, so opting for an expert QA service provider is key to achieving success.

How to integrate usability testing into QA

Incorporating usability testing into your toolkit allows you to contribute more holistically to improve product quality. Whilst starting early and testing regularly is advised, there is no stage at which implementing usability testing doesn’t yield some benefit. Here is our list of good rules to live by when implementing usability testing.

Start early

Begin testing with prototypes or wireframes, it's essential to start early and test often. Usability issues are much easier and cheaper to fix in the early stages of development. Remember to also integrate accessibility from the get-go, as this, too, boosts your product’s usability.

Test regularly

Starting early helps but it's all for naught if you don’t conduct tests regularly throughout the development cycle to ensure that usability remains a priority and allows for iterative improvements. If this isn’t done, you’ll find yourself backtracking with developers to fix issues retroactively, bogging down development.

Collaborate

Collaboration is key in usability testing. QA professionals should work closely with UX designers, developers, and product managers to share insights and implement improvements. This cross-functional approach leads to better overall product quality and user satisfaction.

Set metrics 

Metrics play a crucial role in usability testing. Establishing measurable goals, such as task completion rates, time-on-task, or user satisfaction scores, provides concrete data to track improvements over time. Don’t forget, though, it is important to balance quantitative metrics with qualitative feedback from users to make sure you understand the full picture.

Prioritize findings

One of the challenges in usability testing is prioritizing findings. Not all usability issues are created equal, and it's the QA’s job to identify which problems are most critical to address and to share recommendations with stakeholders so that software products can be improved upon. A good rule of thumb is to focus on issues that significantly impact core functionality or user satisfaction, and work with the development team to prioritize these fixes. 

A usability tester’s task is to classify and rate the severity of findings and to provide as many clear examples as possible to stakeholders in order to “sell” the idea of why usability testing is important for improving the quality of the product. One of the best ways to bring the subject closer to stakeholders is to involve them as early as possible in the test plan design or risk management process, while also providing them with the opportunity to observe test sessions and review usability test reports. 

The round-up

Usability testing is an essential tool for ensuring software quality. Choosing the right method for your organization is vital and staying informed on new technologies, like eye-tracking, emotion recognition, and AI-powered analysis tools that are expanding our ability to understand user behavior and preferences is a key factor in deciding this. By ensuring that software is not just functional but also user-friendly, accessible, and enjoyable, you contribute to the overall success of the product. 

Ready to take your user experience to the next level? Usability testing isn’t just a step—it’s the key to building software your users will love. Get in touch today to learn how usability testing can reveal what really matters to your audience.