What is usability testing? Usability testing assesses the effectiveness with which users can perform the necessary tasks within the software, and whether there are any unnecessary obstacles which prevent them from doing so. Usability can be thought of as being comprised of five quality components:  Learnability: How easy is it for users to accomplish basic tasks the first time they use the product? Do they make any errors? Do they get frustrated with the application?  Efficiency: Once users have learned the design, how quickly can they perform tasks? If they struggle with what should be a straightforward task, why is this? Can the number of clicks required be reduced?  Memorability: When users return to the design after a period of not using it, how easily can they reestablish proficiency?  Errors: How many errors do users make, how severe are they, and how easily can they recover from the errors?  Satisfaction: How pleasant is it to use the design? Does the user like using the application?  Do you have any examples of usability testing? For example, you could ask users to find a specific item in a product catalogue, create a purchase order, or complete a checkout process. While they carry out these tasks, you would observe where they struggle, whether they make any errors, and how satisfied they are with the process. Their feedback and behaviour would highlight any obstacles preventing smooth and efficient task completion. Why is usability testing important? A product could meet all the predefined Acceptance Criteria set by the business, yet when end users get their hands on it, they find the product experience painful to use. Usability testing helps uncover these obstacles, allowing the development team to remove or reduce them, making the product more efficient, effective and satisfying to use. What are the challenges with usability testing? One of the biggest challenges is that the development team will always have a level of technical competence and product knowledge that the user base cannot be guaranteed to have. This makes it extremely difficult for developers and testers to evaluate usability from the same perspective as a real user. Another challenge is distinguishing usability testing from other activities like User Acceptance Testing (UAT) — which focuses on whether the product meets business needs — and A/B testing — which compares the performance of two versions of a feature. Usability testing is specifically about identifying obstacles to effective and efficient task completion and improving the overall experience for users. 

A collection of resources that help to define Systems Thinking.

We all have those days. We’re working on a project, reading the documentation, staring at the errors, and thinking, “What am I doing wrong???”

Four testers are presenting The Testing Planet news from their respective homes. Each is visible in their own video panel.

A mnemonic I came up with while trying to think of ways to help people test like a tester

By adopting systems thinking, individuals can improve their problem-solving capabilities and make more informed decisions

We explore 5 ways to look at the difference between Test and Quality Engineers roles

Folk in the road MEME, straight ahead reads "Quote literally anyone else", the turn off reads "Quote Jane D'Cruze" then at the bottom it reads "Testing planet new presenters"

A man holding a cardboard sign that says "Jane, Jane, Jane"

Joep Schuurkes – Meetings can be effective and they can leave you with a real sense of having accomplished something. And in this post I’ll explain how to make that happen.

A selfie of two white men in an event space. There is a water in the background.