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Why is it important to choose the right moment to perform UX Research? Let's imagine that after investing a lot of time, money and effort, we launch an app but users have problems using it.
Even if we have the best UX/UI designers, it is impossible for them to detect all usability errors. Testing our digital products allows us to optimize resources, detect opportunities for improvement and avoid future problems.
Here we explain when it is convenient for you to perform UX Research to ensure a quality digital product.
But first... what exactly is UX Research?
Following Nielsen Norman we can define it as a series of research methodologies in which a participant (user) interacts with a digital interface. Its objective is to drive the optimization of the digital product by recognizing usability issues and opportunities for improvement.
Basically, UX Research is the way to incorporate the user's perspective to the UX/UI design process. Therefore, it is very important that the tests are performed by individuals representative of the typical user of our digital product. In this way, usability problems are discovered that people familiar with the application would not identify.
UX Research improves the user experience by enabling:
- Validating a prototype/concept before moving to development
- Identify complex task flows that prevent users from making progress
- Finding usability errors and determining their level of severity
- Distinguish opportunities for improvement
- Determine if the users can perform a specific task within the application.
So, when to test?
In order to understand when testing is necessary, it is necessary to consider that there are two types of testing two types of testingFormative and summative testing. Formative testing tries to discover which elements of the digital product work in terms of usability and which do not. These tests are performed at the beginning of the development to detect problems and eliminate them before the end of the project. On the other hand, summative tests are carried out when the product is finished because they try to define the general usability level. Their focus is on final and statistical validation of the usability of the application, focusing on obtaining the largest possible sample and defining precise metrics.
So, while UX Research is crucial in the initial design stage, it works best as an iterative process that is repeated throughout the digital product lifecycle. Testing at every step of the design process is always beneficial and adds value to the development of the digital product. But projects are never ideal, we may encounter budget or time constraints that prevent us from testing at every stage of the digital product development. If we have to limit UX Research to a specific moment, one way to decide when to carry it out is based on the degree of development of the application or also based on the design stage of the digital product.
UX Research by stage of development
Before starting to design: even without having your own interface, you can perform usability tests in apps or websites of competitors/benchmarks. This way we will get insights about how users interact with digital products similar to ours.
With the low-fidelity prototype: testing at this stage allows us to focus on the high-level schema of the digital product and the information architecture.
With the high-fidelity prototype: at this point, testing is focused on discovering specific usability errors and corroborating the user's ease of use of the functionalities or the performance of key tasks.
With the application in production: digital products are constantly evolving in order to improve the user experience. At this stage, testing is focused on detecting changes and corrections to be made in new versions.
UX Research by design stages
Discovery: the purpose is to design the digital product based on user feedback, so we avoid wasting resources and focus on the needs of the target audience.
Exploration: different approaches and solutions are tested to determine which are incorporated and which are discarded. It must be a rapid cycle of design - test - redesign - test so rapid iteration is required which is only achieved with low fidelity prototypes.
Testing: focuses on validating the application design during development. It is very convenient to apply accessibility evaluations and comparative tests based on specific metrics.
Listening: with the application already in production, usability errors and potential improvements are detected through user feedback. Generally, quantitative techniques are used to detect patterns in a large volume of data.
It is better to test today than to regret it tomorrow.
It is important to remember that UX Research does not necessarily require a lot of infrastructure or a large investment. The diversity of methodologies allows us to find one that suits the needs of our project and its budget constraints. Considering the benefits involved, UX Research almost always ensures a very high return on investment. As a general rule, it is always best to test in as many stages as possible.