Usability testing for enterprise products: A complete guide

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Usability testing for enterprise products is one of the most important methods to determine whether the users i.e. employees are able to use the product in its intended manner.

UX researchers must evaluate the user experience of a product or website to understand whether their actual users find it easy to use their product or website and whether it fulfils their customer’s needs. It is basically testing and designing how “people” would want their programs to be.

Here, in this article, we shall talk about why usability testing is important for enterprise products, how to conduct it and which tools you can use. Let’s get started.

What is usability testing?

Usability testing, often known as user testing, is the phase of the design process that allows you to test your product or service with actual users and develop user-centred designs.

As per Rogue Wave Software, 50% of a developer’s time is spent trying to fix bugs that otherwise could have been avoided. The primary goal of usability testing is to identify areas of uncertainty and find potential to enhance the users’ overall experience.

Usability testing is software testing that is not functional. Understandability, memorability, functionality, desirability, and compliance are the major categories of usability testing.

This kind of testing is typically carried out with actual users rather than the development team. Since the project team is the one that produced the product, they are less likely to identify flaws that affect the user experience.

Why is usability testing important?

According to Jeff Sauro of MeasuringU, users can find 85% of the product’s usability issues while testing the procedure. This enables the designers and product owners to see problems that they are oblivious to due to their extensive familiarity with the product or the app.

The purpose of usability testing is to ascertain how if the users can use the product as intended. By doing a usability test, you may address any product defects that are discovered and make them right before the product is released.

Thus, conducting testing will contribute to improving product quality. Internal arguments frequently lead to issues that may be settled by usability testing, which aids in a deeper knowledge of the user experience.

On occasion, it has been shown that the development team misses a few tiny flaws that can be discovered through usability testing. Since the user-side input is direct, the business may utilize it to adjust the product to better suit its intended market.

Advantages of usability testing

Apart from things discussed above, usability testing offers these key benefits to enterprises:

• Improves productivity
• Increases employee satisfaction
• Boosts revenue and growth
• Fosters smooth collaboration

We have covered in a great deal, in our article on why usability is key to enterprise UX. Read to explore more about it.

Now that you have understood usability testing, let’s go through the process of carrying out usability testing for enterprise products.

Steps to conduct usability testing for enterprise products

Knowing whether a user finds your product convenient to use is what enables you to craft the best user experience possible. When working on business products and apps, usability testing is something that user experience designers frequently come upon.

There is a proper approach and techniques for carrying out usability testing. Here is a step-by-step process for conducting usability testing.

1. Establish a clear objective

Objectives are the cornerstone of everything and the basis of the essentials. It is important to first state the goal of the test, including what you want to examine and investigate.

You cannot choose the people who are appropriate for testing or develop a test strategy without a clear purpose in mind. Generally speaking, nothing brings success without a clear goal or objective.

2. Prepare a test plan

Preparing a test plan is the road map and compass that makes it very apparent to know which part of the product you will test. It will measure and analyze the outcomes of the test.

3. Identify user goals

The next step will be to determine high-level user objectives, much as it was important for us to establish the purpose of the testing at the start.

Based on these goals, you will be able to compile a thorough list of user tasks. You can also understand what individuals need and want because of their objectives. 

For example, while using the search feature, the user must choose the relevant dataset, utilize a filter, and organize the results using different criteria.

4. Select a task

After establishing the objective, researchers should move to the prototype and, using it as a basis, construct the optimal path for the user to take to accomplish the objective. Users merely explore the program or product for a set amount of time in this kind of activity. 

For instance, you can employ open-ended activities to do a broad analysis, pinpoint prevalent issues, or highlight user-friendly sections. Users can explore the programme or product for a set amount of time in this kind of activity. Open-ended assignments are typically used for exploratory study.

5. Recruit test participants

Depending on the project or purpose, the recruitment of test participants could change. When we work on a project, we often have the same small set of users with whom we have built connections.

There may be different sets of users for enterprise products. It is critical that the people you recruit understand the challenges you are attempting to address. For instance, if there is a CRM module, personnel from Sales and Marketing must be involved

6. Perform the test

It’s crucial to test the prototype thoroughly before inviting customers to test a new feature, especially if testing is done remotely because there is almost no way to assist the user or correct a bug that interferes with testing when testing is done remotely. It is important to note. However, we generally strive not to assist users in any manner to obtain the most truthful outcome.  

You can ask the user whether they face any difficulty while testing the product. They must be able to tell their opinion as to ‘how the particular product should work’ in detail. This is basically gathering insights about the product.

7. Collect and document results

This step is crucial since if it’s done incorrectly, the outcomes won’t be dependable, and the effort would be completely worthless.

It is better to make a spreadsheet for recording the quantitative data results and where you can enter all of the information and make remarks. Following that, you must put together a report based on this pivot table.

8. Interpret findings

It’s time to address issues after conclusions have been drawn and they have been recognized. It’s better to develop numerous solutions while solving a problem.

This will ensure that there is always the chance to explore a wide range of solutions that are appropriate for various user groups, allowing the optimal solution to be selected. It will ideally be able to address many issues simultaneously and meet the demands of various users.

Tools to conduct usability testing for enterprise products

Tools for usability testing are expanding in both capabilities and numbers, and choosing the best can be tricky. Check out these six fantastic platforms on the list and learn more about them!

1. UsabilityHub

UsabilityHub is one of the tools for usability testing on our list that emphasizes usability. For instance, one of its characteristics is simplicity in and of itself. Users can evaluate the efficiency of the connections and content hierarchy by seeing how users execute activities using their designs.

Brands can create surveys that ask pertinent questions of their participants and confirm their assumptions to avoid mistakes. In the exam, participants can select from a variety of design possibilities in answer to brand-specific questions. 

Furthermore, by assessing participants’ first impressions of the designs, the platform assists developers in optimizing messages on landing pages and lowering bounce rates. It enables developers to receive feedback on photos, videos, and audio files.

2. Maze

With the help of the fast testing platform Maze, you can gather both quantitative and qualitative usability data in one location. Maze allows you to import a current prototype from the design program you use because it is fully integrated with Adobe XD, Figma, InVision, Marvel, or Sketch.

You may build, conduct, and exchange links to detailed usability tests with your testers using Maze. Various capabilities, including task analysis, multiple route analysis, geospatial data, A/B testing, guerilla testing, prototype testing, and others, are included in its usability testing solution.

3. UserTesting

Another significant actor in the field of usability testing is UserTesting. The site has several fantastic features, such as its Live Conversations, which enable genuine feedback from users.

Most users appear to concur that one of UserTesting’s best features is the Highlight Reel tool. Researchers have extremely strong arguments to make to sceptic stakeholders by providing video recordings of crucial occasions during the test (of confused or lost users).

The platform’s customer support is praised by users for their prompt responses and helpful suggestions whenever they are required. There are two types of plans: Individual (with up to 15 video sessions) and Enterprise ( customizable).

4. Hotjar

HotJar has heat maps as its main feature. Users have praised Hotjar on G2 for the its recording capability, which allows users to view participants’ actual behaviors and its simple survey creation option.

Even more so, the tool’s ease of setup was a major selling point for many customers. It merely takes a second to set up Google Tag Manager; it has a HotJar tag waiting for your ID. When you’re ready, all that’s left to do is set up the study and wait for the miracle to happen.

5. Optimal Workshop

Although Optimal Workshop is one of the less popular usability testing tools, it shouldn’t be disregarded. The platform includes several testing tools that are useful for various purposes and when used together, may provide significant design insight.

For instance, their Treejack function tests a product’s internal information architecture. With their Chalkmark tool, you can test wireframes and prototypes, making it simple to identify problems before they become bigger ones.

Card sorting tests, online questionnaires, and other qualitative research methods are examples of further usability assessment techniques.

6. User Zoom

In the market for usability testing tools, UserZoom is a well-known brand. When it comes to features and functionality, however, UserZoom gives you the choice of using your study participants or using their sophisticated search engine, which has roughly 120 million potential participants. 

Users of the site have praised it in reviews for its quick feedback and capacity to conduct much research quickly. One great feature of this platform is that you may modify the plan to only include the add-ons your project or business need, like the audience search engine.

Conclusion

Usability testing allows you to thoroughly check your product development before launch. It is critical for businesses because it enables them to understand the gaps in the product and fix it. With insights gained from usability testing, you can make improvements to the design and make your product user-friendly for your employees.

At Octet Design Studio, we offer usability testing services and it is one of the core steps in our UX design process. Be it an enterprise product or SaaS application, our team makes sure to create products free from any hiccups and delight users. If you have a product or idea, let’s talk about it.