One of my favourite parts of my job is running usability testing sessions. Here’s are two little lists that I try and keep in mind for the main section: “the chat.”
Do
- Ask them to be honest and think out loud
- Asked open-ended questions
- Ask one question at a time
- Ask why often
- Encourage action (“Give it a try”)
- Answer questions with a question
- Use acknowledgement tokens (“OK”, “uh huh”, “mm hmm”, but not “OK!”)
- Be glad when they get stuck
- Thank them for their time
Don’t
- Sit across from them
- Lean in and crowd them
- Tell them this is a test of them
- Complete their sentences
- Use leading questions (“Does that make sense?” “Was that easy?”)
- Tell them what they’re looking at
- Assume you know what they mean – ask them instead
- Ask them to speculate on their future behaviour
- Ask them what they want