What you need to know about User Testing

Launching a B2B SaaS product without conducting user testing can be a recipe for disaster. Without user testing, you risk developing a product that doesn't meet the needs of your users, which can lead to poor user experience, limited functionality, low adoption rates, negative feedback, and increased development costs. In today's highly competitive market, user testing is critical for B2B SaaS companies that want to build products that stand out while meetings the actual needs of their target audiences. First let's start by under standing some of the basics.

What is User Testing?

User testing is the process of evaluating a product's usability and effectiveness by gathering feedback from actual users. The goal of user testing is to identify issues or opportunities for improvement in a product's design or functionality and to gather insights into how users interact with the product.

There are several different methods that design teams can use to gather feedback and insights from users. By selecting the right type of user testing for their needs and goals, you can build products that are more user-friendly, efficient, and effective.

Usability testing is a common type of user testing that involves observing users as they interact with a product and collecting feedback on the product's usability. Usability testing can be conducted in-person or remotely. It typically involves a moderator guiding users through a series of tasks and asking questions about their experience. The feedback collected during usability testing can help design teams identify areas where users are struggling or encountering issues with the product's design or functionality.

A/B testing is another type of user testing that involves presenting two variations of a product to different groups of users and comparing their responses. A/B testing can be used to test different versions of a product's design or functionality, such as different pricing plans or feature sets. By comparing user behavior and feedback across the two variations, designers can make data-driven decisions about which version to implement.

Remote user testing is a useful tool for testing products with a geographically dispersed user base as it allows design teams to gather feedback from users located anywhere in the world through video conferencing or online tools. Remote user testing can also be more cost-effective and efficient than in-person testing, as it eliminates the need for travel and other logistical expenses.

Getting Started

With all that being said, you might be wondering how to get started. Here are the steps for conducting user testing for B2B SaaS products:

Define your testing goals

Before starting the testing process, you should define the goals and objectives of your testing. Identify what you want to learn from the testing, what features you want to test, and what metrics you want to track. For usability tests, it is important to set up objective and subjective metrics, such as time on task, effort, number of errors, failure rate, as well as stress responses and confusions.

Identify your user personas

Identify the different user personas for your product. These personas will help you recruit the right users for your testing sessions.

Recruit participants

You can recruit participants through your customer base, professional networks, or maybe online user testing platforms such as UserTesting, or TryMyUI.

Make sure that your participants represent your user personas and have relevant experience using similar software products. As easy and attempting as it may be, a coworker or any random person down the hallway is unlikely to offer the kind of insight you are hoping for.

Prepare the testing materials, such as scenarios, tasks, and questionnaires, that will be used during the testing sessions. Make sure that the materials are clear and concise, and go through try run beforehand to identify any potential issues.

Remember to also develop a testing script. A testing script will help ensure consistency in your testing process. It should include scenarios, tasks, and questions that will be used during the testing sessions.

Conduct the testing sessions either in-person or remotely, depending on your testing goals and budget. During the testing sessions, observe the participants as they interact with the product, and take notes on their feedback, behavior, and challenges.Make sure that the testing environment is comfortable and distraction-free. Provide any necessary equipment and ensure that the technology is working properly.

Encourage participants to verbalize their thoughts as they interact with your product. This will help you understand their reasoning and decision-making process.

Pay close attention to how participants interact with your product. Take detailed notes on their feedback, behavior, and challenges, especially ones that indicate their emotions and feelings.

Keep in mind that the testing sessions need to be as objective as possible. Sometimes participants want to know if they are doing a good job, wonder if they get the right answers, or even ask for permission to move on to next tasks. When that happens, it's easy for a moderator to fall into these "emotional traps" by providing answers based on their own knowledge of the product. Instead, keep your cool and simply affirm the tester that they are helping to identify what you're looking for, there's no right or wrong answers, and they are free to move on at their own pace.

Analyzing the results of testing sessions is an essential step in improving the user experience of a product. To do this effectively, it's important to identify common themes, issues, and opportunities for improvement. Common themes are issues that come up repeatedly across multiple testing sessions. Identifying these themes can help you understand the most significant problems that users are facing and prioritize them accordingly. Issues that arise during testing may include usability problems, technical issues, or user misunderstandings.

When prioritizing the feedback, it's important to consider its relevance and impact on your product. This means that you should prioritize feedback that addresses the most pressing issues and has the potential to make the most significant impact on the user experience. Prioritizing feedback will help you avoid wasting time and resources on minor issues that may not be critical to your product's success.

While it's important to pay attention to usability issues, you should avoid getting bogged down in micro-usability. Focusing on small details can lead to losing sight of the bigger picture and your business objectives. Instead, focus on the feedback that is most relevant to your business objectives and the technology constraints you are working within.

Ultimately, the feedback you receive should inform your product design decisions and help you prioritize features based on user needs. By incorporating user feedback into your design decisions, you can create a more user-centered product that meets the needs of your target audience.

In summary, user testing is a crucial part of the B2B SaaS product design process. It helps you understand the needs and expectations of your target audience, identify potential issues before launching your product, and improve the overall user experience. By following best practices for user testing and leveraging various tools and techniques, B2B SaaS companies can create products that meet the needs of their users and stand out in a highly competitive market. As you embark on your product design journey, don't underestimate the power of user testing – it could hold the key to the success of your product.