Product Testing 101
Quick Tip!
The overall testing process can last one to two weeks from initial plan creation to a completed report. Plan for around 4-6 hours to write a plan, 2-4 hours for testing, and 4-6 hours to write the report.
Testing at the Corps
The Digital Corps conducts testing to find problems in a project’s design, learn about possible user behavior, and find ways to improve the project. This typically includes two types of testing: quality assurance testing and usability testing. While both help assess the functionality and usability of a product, each one serves a different purpose.
Usability Testing
The UX Team conducts usability testing to find problems with or ways to improve a product like a website, mobile app, or other design/development projects. Usability testing requires a participant to complete a variety of planned tasks while the UX researcher records their thoughts and feelings as they navigate through the experience. Rounds of usability testing should occur throughout the design process to uncover issues as soon as they arise. Full-blown testing should occur after all necessary rounds of quality assurance tests are completed. This ensures that the product is ready for actual user interaction.
To conduct usability testing, a UX Team member will gather around five participants. During testing, the UX Team member will guide participants through tasks to complete on the product being tested. These tasks will allow the UX Team to evaluate if users will likely understand the product and if it is usable for a novice user.
The amount of time needed to complete user testing depends on the complexity of the project and the testing method. For some projects, testing can be completed in one round, with all five participants present at the same time. These sessions typically take about an hour. However, some testing requires the participant to interact one-on-one with the UX Team member. In these instances, testing can take from 2-3 hours depending on how long each person takes, but typically each participant is scheduled for 30 minutes with the facilitator. Some projects will also require multiple rounds of testing. To make sure that the UX Team has enough time to conduct testing, talk with them to determine how much testing is necessary for the project.
During testing, UX Team members gather feedback from participants in multiple ways. The most obvious way is through verbal feedback – what the participants say as they complete the tasks. They also look for body language and facial expressions to infer feelings about the product that may not be expressed verbally. This feedback is then used to make suggestions to developers and designers to make necessary improvements to the product.
Quick Tip!
The complexity of the project will determine how long testing will take. Talk to the UX Team and staff to determine an appropriate timeline for UX tasks.
Quality Assurance Testing
Quality Assurance testing verifies the intended functionality of the product. This type of testing evaluates every possible state of a product to verify it functions as intended. QA testing typically occurs at the end of the development and design phase, before it is released to the client or end users.
The product at this stage is a first draft – all functionality is finished and the teams have completed all assigned tasks. Further ‘drafts’ will come after the project team receives feedback from testing.
The amount of time that QA testing will take depends on the product. For example, smaller websites may only need 30 minutes to 1 hour to complete quality assurance testing. A website with more pages and interactions could take 2-3 hours if only one UX Team member conducts the review. Once a project is ready for QA testing, it typically takes one or two days to conduct the testing and generate a report.
Quick Tip!
Quality Assurance testing is important to ensure a product functions as intended. It will typically take a UX Team member 30 minutes to an hour for smaller projects, and 2-3 hours for larger projects to complete QA testing.
Post-Testing
After all rounds of testing are complete, the UX Team member will generate a report with a variety of data points, observations, and recommendations for improvement (if needed). To write the report and finish the review process typically takes 2-3 days and should be accounted for in the project timeline.
Testing at the Corps is an important part of the design and development process. QA and usability testing ensure that a product is usable and allow users to complete their goals. Users are the most important part of any design or system, and testing guarantees that users will be happy with the end product.
