User Testing
After an extended push to bring new features to the platform, we took a step back to review overall usability and test the sum of the changes with users.
A large number of new features had been added to the platform over a six month period: video support, collaboration features, search and filtering features, and a print store. Each was developed in parallel by independent agile teams, making it hard for designers to keep track of the experience as a whole.
Key issues & challenges:
- Focus on new features meant that core features had been neglected
- Overall lack of polish
- By accommodating new features, the navigation in apps had become unwieldy
- Users didn’t understand the different sharing options
Almost all of the testing was conducted remotely by video conference. This has proved to be highly effective for a number of reasons:
- It’s more convenient for test participants so recruitment is easier
- We are not limited to only those people who can visit our London office
- Participants use their own computer and user accounts for the test
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/25822ac54bf393aa926089fdf000b3fe64f966770bae0f435ca8e5aa75dd0ad4/User-Testing-2.png)
It’s incredibly important for learnings to be accessible to team members. Team members are encouraged to join the video conference and test recordings can be viewed later on Dropbox. I make an edited highlights video for each test to sit alongside the full recording.
Test documentation records objectives, planned test scenarios and tasks, findings and actions
![Test documentation](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/fd0195bed774539db7d436402c098f7c1322c287a298a54fa7b0877fa1d8b40e/User-Testing-1.png)
![Extract showing task completion record](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/496303cc3e0b07735e43e0677a5708c2a196b62b784457c7fd9c5665147578bc/User-Testing-4.png)
![Extract showing record of test highlights with quotes from participant](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/99f55a6d39d54103bf12e50f7386da94e3eac74c662a2183a65183cdec7582e4/User-Testing-5.png)