June 22, 2023

User Testing Guide For Your Mobile App

Resources

All founders know that an MVP is a tool for learning.  Yet how, exactly, do you structure user testing sessions?  Who should you invite?  What questions should you ask and how should you analyze feedback?  Our user testing guide answers all of these questions and more as it breaks down the fundamentals of user testing.

Overview

The DreamLabs User Testing Guide is a resource that includes both information and templates you can duplicate. In short, it provides everything a founder or tech lead might need to get started with your first user testing sessions. Below is a brief explanation of each element of the Guide and how to use them.

Purpose

User testing is like any other tool. It should be used for certain tasks, and not others. Review this section to better understand the most valuable use of user testing for your product.

Docs

There are 3 separate databases that you can duplicate to operate all of your user testing sessions.

Test Reports

Use this database to manage each session by creating a new entry for each user testing session you conduct. Within a test entry, select "Usability Test Report Template" to populate our framework for preparing for, conducting and analyzing each session. The breakdown of this framework is below.

Test Report

  • Overall summary -> This is where you include the high-level summary (both quantitative and qualitative) for each session.
  • Top priority feedback -> Call out the major, high-priority pieces of feedback in this section.
  • All test feedback -> A filtered view of every documented piece of feedback from this test. *NOTE: Update the filter on this linked database for each session.

Guides

  • Test Prep -> Use this section to formalize the strategic logic of your test as well as define the relevant logistics.
  • Test Management -> Use this section as the moderator of a test to have everything you need to guide a session.
  • Test Notes -> Use this section as the note taker to capture as much data as possible.

Test Users

Keep track of every user included in a testing session in this database. Add demographic and psychographic information for each user in their entry, as relevant.

Test Feedback

Log every individual piece of feedback in this database. For high-severity or frequently-recurring entries, adding qualitative context around the user's "State of mind" and "User comments or quotes" is particularly important. This allows you as the test analyzer to most effectively and quickly communicate the feedback to other team members who may not have participated in the session themselves.

Outline

This section lays out the skeleton of the DreamLabs usability testing process. Use this to orient yourself in the process overall and guide the execution of tasks to get from start to finish.

Detailed Tactics

Use this section to fast-track your understanding of each step of the usability testing process. You'll find specific advice, guidance, examples and more to quickly brush up on your skills. The details included are designed to equip you with the knowledge to begin running your own usability testing process today. You can also explore the "Resources" section for further reading, should you choose.

As a fractional product team, DreamLabs runs this usability testing session with every client after every release to ensure that we learn as fast as we ship. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions about our process and how to best run it for your product!