User Testing #3: Scenario

Do you wear glasses? What? But yes, you carry. Every one of us has them. I, apart from the dioptric ones, wear the same imaginary glasses as you do to look at the world. They allow me to navigate everyday situations, interpret and understand. When creating a scenario for user testing, it is important to take off these glasses and put on the glasses of our respondents. This is true of all user research, not just testing.

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In the first article in the series on user testing, I summarized testing process, in the second we focused on selection of respondents and now we have a script coming up. screenplay Reflects on typical actionsthat people on the web do and its optics then We evaluate how the site is doing. How people through the web don't/fulfill their needs and why.

Its correct and non-original assembly is key in order not to distort the result. And this is exactly what will help us if we focus on what glasses our target audience wears and try to put them on.

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Test conversion paths

If you are testing a site where you have participated in user research, you have the advantage of having probably met the people the site is intended for. You understand their needs and what they are trying to achieve through the site. So you gather in one place research findings, data from analytics and hypotheses that you have given the site. (Great, for example, are data from an online questionnaire where you found out why they came to the site.) Do this activity ideally in a groupto avoid distortion. Realize with the team the needs of the target audience and write them on post-its. Then build on them when creating scenarios.

Of course, work with the prototype of the site or site in the process of writing the script to make the tasks feasible, but do not proceed in such a way that you look at the website and select one piece of information from each menu section that respondents should discover. Think about what they want to achieve on the site. Test conversion paths. Think about the direct conversion sites, the most visited and most frequent landing pages. Don't focus on what section to find/use, but why do they have to find/use it.

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Create stories

“One of the most important things about our site is for them to find contact. Okay, but does that mean the script is going to be “Please seek contact?” No!

First of all, you use Guidewordthat occurs on the website or in the prototype — this way you clearly show the respondent where to click. Second, the task does not contain The reason why a person should seek contact. The ideal way to formulate scenarios is to wrap them in of the storyThanks to which the respondents they put themselves in the situation. Of course, this cannot always be done, some tasks are straightforward, but if it makes sense, take advantage of the stories.

Our task could then be: “You have accidentally sent an order for a book that you do not want to buy and you need to cancel it. How do you solve it?”

This task is specific, respondent He knows what situation he is in, does not contain introductory words and most importantly based on the real situationthat people on the web address.

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Hypothetically speaking

In addition to introductory scenarios, avoid hypothetical ones that typically begin with “if.” You are interested in how the respondent accomplishes a specific task so that you can observe how he navigates the site, how he fulfills goals, not what he would do if...

Formulate scenarios simply, so that they are understandable. This is especially true of the very first one, where you need the respondent to gain confidence, which will help him to perform other tasks more naturally — as if he were actually sitting at home in the living room, not under your watchful eye. He must never feel that he has failed. Then continue with the most important tasks — in case you miss them all.

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Testing is a systematic process

And how many scenarios should there be? It depends on the complexity of the topic, type, goal and size of the site, the number of typical actions and, most importantly, the purchase cycle and conversion path of the customer. For an idea, you will be able to complete about fifteen tasks during about an hour of testing. Once you have compiled the script, detail it piloting — try to test on someone whether it is understandable to them.

In conclusion, I would like to note that user testing is a systematic and fairly standardized activity, deviate from the scenario only in exceptional cases, if you encounter a problem, misunderstanding or inconsistency with the mental model of the respondents, dig deeper. But don't let testing become a non-binding conversation where you click through the web from the outside.

Next time we will focus on choosing the right place, the technique and most importantly the testing process itself.