We have run in-depth, face-to-face user testing for numerous organisations, each at different stages of their project lifecycle and with different styles and cultures. Our clients have come from various sectors, such as Finance, Fitness, Retail, Hospitality, Education, Leisure and Engineering, and their turnovers have ranged from zero to £12 billion.

Despite these differences, one common characteristic I have seen in people who commission user testing for the first time is that they are bold.

Why Bold?

I say bold because the first time someone invests in user testing is a step into the unknown. Teams that have not experienced user testing before sometimes ask what it will tell them. Of course, we can't answer that. We can't tell them precisely what they'll discover about their product.

We can explain how user testing will mean they more deeply understand user behaviour and that user testing will show them what is working well on their solution, what isn't and why. We can even show examples of how user testing participants have suggested great new ideas. But initially, commissioning the work requires a leap of faith, coupled with a hope that the investment will deliver insights that lead to deeper user engagement, higher sales, greater loyalty and better conversion rates.

The Rewards

I recently received a great email from a client after we presented our findings and recommendations. He had initially and understandably been unsure about commissioning user testing, but having seen the results, he was pleased he had.

"… I just wanted to say thanks for all your efforts on the UX review. It is easy not to find time or budget to do such an exercise, but they are always hugely insightful, and this was no exception. It is invaluable. I am sure we will be back in touch with Userfy shortly."

Be Bold!

Even though I have worked in digital and software for over 20 years, I can never predict what we will learn from each project.

Once we see users getting confused or frustrated by something in a design journey, it's easy to understand why it's happening and how to fix it; despite being unable to predict the problem in the first place. Only in-depth user testing does this. Still, for Heads of UX, Product Owners, Founders, Heads of Digital, Designers and Marketing Managers, it just needs that bit of boldness to go ahead and do it for the first time.

If you are considering user testing, you won't regret it. It could be one of the best things in which you ever invest.

Can We Help You?

If there is anything we could help with, please get in touch for a completely no-obligation discussion. Even if we don't work together, we'd be delighted to advise where we can.

Phil Randall (Owner at Userfy)

Email: phil.randall@userfy.co.uk

Call: 07712669935

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