Now, is this just an age thing? You’d think we’d eventually get over it, that maturity would give us a little more perspective ... and resilience. Right?
But, then again, maybe not. I feel like I run into it all the time. Indeed, I’ve been getting a lot of resistance to usability testing over the past few years. So, what gives? Is it just fragile egos, Millennials, digital creatives, Design Thinking, "kids these days"?
I have a theory ... It combines a couple of things, but really focuses on how design seems to have taken over the UX space lately.
So, for example, if you came up as a graphic designer, you may have honestly never really gotten decent, objective feedback before. Sure, your instructors had something to say, as your boss undoubtedly does now. You also probably engaged in crits, and may be doing those now as well. And, in the real world, you’ve always got your client, right? In fact, making the customer happy may very well be your main goal right now.
But, really, who is that customer? If your immediate answer is the person paying the bills (whether your company or a client), you’re right, but you may also be missing something very important. Yup, UX is a little different in that way.
Now, yes, you definitely need to make the business, your boss, and the client happy. But the main person for UX is actually someone very different – the user of whatever you’re designing. I mean, if they’re not happy, your design will have failed. But, then again, how would you ever know? How is this different than releasing a brochure on the world, or plastering posters up everywhere?
Well, there are a couple of answers to this question. The hard and fast one is clicks, whether straight up or using A/B testing.
There’s also a softer one too. And that method also can tell you something that the hard and fast stuff cannot – why you’re design is failing (or succeeding). With usability testing, your users will tell you - with their actual words, but also with the things they do.
Ideally, a successful UX project will start with approval at the peer, manager, and business/client level. That, then, needs to be followed up with usability testing with actual users. Finally, upon release, don't forget to monitor the heck out of clicks; web analytics; and actual signups, purchases, or whatever bottom-line result your company/client is ultimately interested in.
It’s kind of like baking a cake. Leaving out any of the steps is going to result in some kind of mess. Following them all is going to result in something tasty for all.
Good advice for here too
