What Is App User Testing?
User testing takes place when brands encourage people to download or try out their new app, intending to receive feedback on various elements of its design and functionality. By putting it into the hands of the target audience, they get first-hand accounts of the app’s usability and popularity directly from the people they want to sell it to.
If you’re an app creator, user testing is a great way to identify whether or not your app is ready for release.
Why Is User Testing Important?
Statistics show that around 49% of app users abandon an app after one day of use following their download, so user testing is a crucial element of your strategy that can make a big difference to your first impression.
Not only this, but user testing allows you to identify early whether any development or design problems might be causing a roadblock somewhere along the customer journey. With limited time to impress your users before their attention span wanes, implementing effective user testing is therefore critical to your retention rates.
How Does App User Testing Work?
User testing can be done in several ways. One option would be, once the MVP is complete, for your UI/UX designer to create a clickable prototype to share with others. Another option would be, once it gets to the development team, they can create a prototype which would consist of the front-end portion only before going into the back-end development; for iOS this is called Test Flight. These options would just show the basic flow of the app before it goes into full-on development. User testing allows individuals to be as honest as possible during the early stages of app development. If you introduce your product to potential customers who fit your target customer profile, you can see whether the choices you’ve made around functionality and design are effective and well-received.
You can complete user testing across a range of different devices too, such as mobile phones, tablets and laptops. This gives you an unfiltered view of the overall customer journey across a range of products, meaning that if there’s an element of your app that doesn’t work well on a particular type of hardware, you’ll know before it’s in the hands of customers.
How To Optimize Your User Testing Stage
Whether you’re creating an app for your existing business or building a brand based entirely around your new app, user testing is one of the most daunting stages. This is where your potential customers will tell you directly whether your app works, and, more importantly, whether they like it.
Because of this, it’s easy to forget some aspects of the testing stage. Here are some of the most critical themes to raise with users during this period.
- Accessibility and Usability
First things first, is your app usable? Can users navigate the different screens without facing error messages, lagging or other technical issues? Not being able to move around the app will cause frustration among its users and leave you with unhappy customers.
A similar issue might be accessibility issues. Many users might have accessibility problems that require adaptations, such as closed captioning for content, screen reading capability or text-to-speech. Not only could accessibility difficulties damage your retention rates, but they could also land you in hot water with the law – depending on where you launch your app, specific legal regulations might monitor whether you meet accessibility criteria.
- Ease of Understanding
Secondly, is your app easy for users to understand? Clear content, and a UX design that ensures text and instructions are easy to read are vital to a positive user experience. Ensure that when the app is in the testing stage, you get feedback from users on how easy it is to understand.
- Functionality
The level and depth of functionality within your app also play a big part in the user testing stage. As you’ll ideally be testing the app with your target audience, check that they are generally happy with its functionality. After this, see if you can gather suggestions on what could be added to make it even better.
- Design Features
Like it or not, how your app looks dramatically affects its overall success. In fact, the aesthetic-usability effect theory suggests that many app users will even overlook certain functionality issues if the design is aesthetically appealing! This makes the testing stage a great time to gain an understanding of how users perceive the look of your app, and get a feel for what changes you might need to make if they don’t see it quite the way you do.
- Payment System
Although not all apps will use a payment system, if you’re planning to offer in-app purchases to your users, including the payment system into the testing phase is one of the best ways to protect your future income. Many in-app purchases are spontaneous, and capitalizing on this allows you to grow your business, so don’t risk a payment system delay – speak to your users at the testing stage to ensure this works as expected.
By keeping these testing elements in mind when discussing feedback with users, you can set yourself off on the right foot when it comes to bringing your new offering to the app store.
