Use cases
Usability tests for the products you design
Physical or digital, one project or many clients: the same way of preparing, running and documenting each study.
Physical products
Test the prototype in people’s hands
The problem
With a remote control, a tool or a piece of equipment, the problems show up in how people hold it, look for a button or give up. Those moments are easy to miss and hard to compare between sessions.
Example study
Example · for illustration
“Can people use the new remote in a dim living room without looking down?”
- Turn the volume down without looking at the remote
- Switch to the second HDMI input
- Find the subtitles button with the lights off
Observed: success, time on task, hesitations and grip. Then a short questionnaire and SUS.
Decision it supports: which button layout goes into the next prototype.
What helps most
Moderator script and what to observe
Every moderator watches for the same things in each task.
Timers and notes during the session
Record the outcome and what people said and did while it’s fresh.
Results across iterations
Run the same test on each prototype and compare the results.
Digital products
Test the flows that matter most
The problem
In a checkout or an app, small details decide whether people finish. Testing one version is useful; comparing versions and flows needs the same tasks every time.
Example study
Example · for illustration
“Can new customers complete the checkout on their phone without creating an account?”
- Buy a product as a guest
- Apply a discount code
- Change the delivery address before paying
Observed: success, time on task and errors. Then the questionnaire and SUS.
Decision it supports: whether guest checkout ships as designed or needs another round.
What helps most
Several tests in one project
One test per flow or version, all with the same structure.
Questionnaires and SUS
Structured answers after the tasks, in person or by remote link.
Duplicate and adapt
Copy a test, a task group or a task and change only what’s different.
Studios and teams
Run studies for several clients the same way
The problem
Studios and agencies test for different clients at the same time. Without one way of working, every project starts from scratch and every moderator does it differently.
Example study
Example · for illustration
“Which of the two packaging concepts can shoppers open, reseal and understand faster?”
- Open the package and take out one portion
- Reseal the package
- Find the storage instructions
Delivered: results, accepted findings and a PDF report for the client.
Decision it supports: which packaging concept the client takes forward.
What helps most
One project per client
Separate projects, with the right moderators assigned to each.
Templates and duplication
Start new studies from what already works.
Reports to deliver
Findings, decisions and results in a PDF the client can read.
More studies you can run
Example · for illustration
Each one starts from a question, says what to watch for and ends with the decision it supports.
| Context | Study question | What to observe | Decision it supports |
|---|---|---|---|
| Packaging | Can people open the pack and close it again without help? | Attempts, difficulties and whether the closure is understood | Keep, change or replace the closure |
| Hand tools and objects | Can people do the task with the proposed handle? | How they hold it, how they adjust their grip and the effort they report | The handle shape for the next prototype |
| Household appliances | Do people understand how to start and stop it? | Where they look for the controls, hesitations and errors | The labels and placement of the controls |
| Comparing prototypes | What difficulties come up with each design? | The same tasks and measures on each prototype | Which design to develop, backed by evidence |
| App onboarding | Can new users set up their account without help? | Where they stop, what they skip and the errors they make | Which steps to cut or rewrite |
| Web services | Can people find and change a setting on their own? | Navigation paths, time on task and wrong turns | How to organise the menu |
Studying industrial or product design?
Students of industrial design and product design courses can apply for the student plan with their school email.
Apply for the student planBuild Better Products with Usability Testing
Your first study can be ready to run today.
What happens after you sign up
- 1Confirm your email address and sign in.
- 2Start a project: blank, from a template, from an imported file, or drafted by AI from a short description.
- 3Add participants, invite your moderators and run the first session.