User testing

User testing on your target audience

User testing is about evaluating how people use and understand a service. The goal is to determine if the service functions as intended and to learn what can be improved.

A common mistake is testing with individuals who do not represent the target audience. Examples include internal staff who are already familiar with the service or friends and family who don’t have the same needs as the actual users. It is more important to test with the right people than to test with many people.

The right people to test are those for whom the service is designed.

How do you reach them? Recruitment from your own website is the answer!

Recruitment for user testing

Skyra is a self-service platform that makes recruitment for user testing simple. With automated recruitment from your website, your contact list builds itself. You gain easy access to people who are right in the target audience and have agreed to be invited to a user test. Recruitment can be set up as an independent question or attached to other user surveys and top task measurement.

How it works

To recruit people for user testing, you add a question with an invitation and consent on your website. Those who want to participate can sign up, providing consent and registering their name, email, and phone number. They are added to your contact list and become part of your panel. When you need to conduct a user test, you select from the contact list who you want to invite and manage this yourself.

Contact list

Those who sign up end up in your contact list. This way, you always have your target audience readily available when something needs testing. Even if you build a large panel, it’s easy to find the most relevant people for your test. Use filters to choose based on the target audience and the responses given to qualifying questions. Categorization with tags helps you keep track. Additionally, you are notified to delete contacts that have been inactive for too long.

Cut costs

How much does it cost to recruit for user testing? Skyra's customers pay nothing extra to recruit their own users. It's included as part of our user insights toolkit. Therefore, businesses that conduct frequent user testing can significantly reduce costs by using Skyra’s solution.

With Skyra, it’s easy to:

• Invite to user testing from your own website
• Include qualifying questions
• Target recruitment with custom IDs
• Limit how many people see the invitation
• Delete contacts that have been inactive for too long

Tips for smart user testing

Many find it challenging to know how to conduct user testing effectively. Here are some tips for successful smart user testing—served in three "courses": test the right things, with the right users, using the right questions.

1. Test the right things

It’s easy to test what is most convenient rather than what actually needs testing. To determine what should be tested, real needs and challenges must be identified first. By analyzing feedback from user surveys and other insight sources, you can uncover unknown unknowns.

Example: How to discover unknown unknowns?

Let’s use an insurance company as an example. The claims reporting process seems simple, but some customers struggle to upload attachments. Employees are unaware of this issue because everything works fine when they test it themselves. Having a system to detect hidden problems is crucial. Examples of such systems include Skyra’s solutions for top tasks, user surveys, and "Did you find what you were looking for?" feedback.

2. Talk to the right users

More important than the number of test participants is who you test with. Here are some examples of highly relevant test users.

Within the target audience

Those actively looking for your solution

Example: A homebuyer looking to apply for a mortgage.

First-time users who can share their first impressions

Example: A prospective student considering a university.

Those who will receive the text you want to user-test

Example: An entrepreneur searching for information about grant programs.

Those the service is built for

Example: Seniors testing a solution for calculating pension payouts.

Those who already have expectations for the service

Example: An insurance customer expecting good follow-up after submitting a claim.

Those who have recently used the service

Example: A person who recently submitted their tax return and is invited to test a new feature.

Outside the target audience

Those who have no need for the service at all

Example: A person without a car testing a website for car insurance.

Those the service or message is not intended for

Example: A student testing a website for pension withdrawals.

Expert users of the service

Example: Colleagues who helped develop the service.

Users with the wrong technical level

Example: A person with the wrong expertise testing an advanced system for reporting and statistics.

3. Ask the right questions

Asking the right questions is crucial. They should be clear, specific, and focused on actual user tasks. Give a concrete task to complete in the user test and ask afterward how they felt about the process.

Use scenarios

A great way to structure tasks is by using a scenario. You can do this by saying:
"Imagine that you need to..."

Avoid leading words

Do not use the exact wording that appears on the button users need to click to complete the task.

Task + reflection

After the user has completed the task, ask how they felt about solving it. Then, provide a new task.

Balance the questions

Instead of asking if something was difficult, ask if it was "easy or difficult."

Example

Let’s use an insurance company as an example. You want to understand how easy it is for users to find the right insurance.

You can say:

"Imagine that you are going on a trip for 90 days. Find an insurance plan that fits this need."

Important: Do not use the word "travel insurance" as it leads users directly to the correct menu option. Also, by specifying "90 days," you can observe whether the user selects the correct insurance plan, rather than one that only covers trips up to 60 days.

After the task is completed, it’s useful to ask a reflection question.

For example:
"Was there anything that made you uncertain about what to do next, or did everything go smoothly?"

Five good questions for user testing

1. Imagine that you are moving abroad for a year. Find an insurance plan that suits this situation.
2. How did you experience the process of finding the right insurance?
3. Was there anything along the way that made you unsure about whether you chose the right insurance, or did everything go smoothly?
4. What factors did you consider when choosing the insurance, and was anything unclear during the process?
5. Was there something specific you were looking for that you expected to find more quickly or easily?