Prototype testing: 5 steps on how to get closer to an effective solution

Prototyping & Testing are the last, but not least important, stages of product development within the Design Thinking process. Why do we as product designers need to allocate time and resources to test a solution before launching it to production? This is why: analyzing user experience helps to unveil real user needs and design the solution according to them.

Let’s assume you’ve discovered that your users have a specific problem with your product. Eureka — you’ve got a clear vision of how to solve it. In your mind, this solution corresponds to both user needs and business goals, but it still represents your vision and your users can see things differently. This is the first signal to test your solution in the real world.

Step 1. Thoughtfully prepare for a testing

— Set a specific goal

Any research starts with a goal. What are you going to achieve? How could prototype testing help you? Formulate and write down your goal to go next.

— Choose the right type of prototype

Is your prototype an interactive set of mockups in Marvel app / inVision or a real built-in code solution? It all depends on what you’re going test, but having a dev team to code draft prototypes always helps. With a coded prototype you can test a feature in the real environment of your product, gaining a more natural and less emulated user experience. Here’s a short checklist for choosing the appropriate prototype:

Interactive mockups are okay when:

• You’re testing a separate UX flow that doesn’t involve other product scenarios (ex. Registration flow, Upgrade subscription flow);
• You’re going to run quick testing for a small feature and don’t have resources to code it;
• You’re going to test the legibility and readability of UI elements.

Prototype in code is more useful when:

• The feature is a part of the core product functionality and cannot be used independently of other tools (ex. New drawing tool, Presentation mode in your app);
• You want to test micro-interactions with your feature;
• You want to find bugs and errors in the coded solution.

Surprisingly, but sometimes it’s more rationally to code prototypes and then reuse and improve this code in the further production version. If you have time and resources, get the most advantage out of them.

— Write down your hypotheses

Lot’s of hypotheses are standing behind your vision for a solution, but it’s essential to write them down and rank during testing. It could be simply a Google Spreadsheet file where you can track and analyze the results of prototype testing. Formulating correct hypothesis is also a kind of art — here are some helpful notes about what’s not a hypothesis and how to formulate them.

“Hypotheses ranking” template in Google Spreadsheet here.

— Find the right people

Another challenge is to find the appropriate users for usability testing. The easiest way is to figure out the active users with specific properties (role, type of account, some activity data and statistics). To gain even more benefit you can send them a survey with a couple of open-ended questions (you can learn more about UX surveys in my article here), and ask the users to take part in prototype testing.

Step 2. Launch your testing

Here’s a toolset that could help complete the routine tasks easily and focus on the right things instead:

• Calendly.com to schedule all interviews at different Time Zones
• Zoom.us to conduct testing and record it
• Google Suite (Docs, Spreadsheet, Calendar) to store all artifacts

The invitation email to your respondents is an important thing — it should be friendly and engaging. I always send a Calendly link to help the user comfortably choose a suitable date and time. The integration with Zoom.us automatically creates the event with the link to join a call.

Hey [Name],

Thanks for choosing [Product Name]!Recently we’ve conducted a survey, and you agreed to take part in a follow-up interview. Now we’re working on a new feature to improve the user experience with [Problem you’re addressing]. I would be grateful if you found 30 minutes next week to try our new feature and talk more about the way you work with our product. I will be happy to answer your questions as well. Please choose a convenient time using the Calendly link below: [Link]

Have a nice day! [Your name and role in a company]

Feel free to use this template and don’t forget to send a gentle reminder to your respondents if needed. This could help you manage all interviews properly and avoid unnecessary setbacks.

Step 3. Get together on a call

This is an exciting moment when you actually see your users face to face. Take it easy, as if you’re talking to a friend, and keep in mind these simple rules:

1. Gently ask the respondent for permission to record the conversation (for internal use, of course) in case you need to share it with your teammates. This is an important step which shows your respect for the customers’ interests and data.
2. Make it clear that you’re testing not the respondent but your product. Ask the user to comment on everything out loud and try to catch all the details — that’s the part where a video recording will help you to dig into the details after the call.
3. Talking is nice, but showing is even better. To get even more insights, just gently ask the user to show use cases on the real examples. If you’re lucky, you’ll have a chance to see how your customers use your product in real life.
4. Support your user in the new scenarios, but don’t dictate them what to do step-by-step. Turning prototype testing into unnatural instruction is a common mistake. On the contrary, it should be as natural and close to a real experience as possible. The best thing to do is to ask the user to recreate a regular use case with your prototype to gather clear insights.

Step 4. Analyze the results

It helps when you don’t delay analysis and do it right after the test when all of your ideas are still fresh in your memory. The simplest way to do it is by ranking hypotheses and sorting them to find out TOP insights according to your hypotheses (Google Spreadsheet template is here). One more useful thing is an ongoing list with UX bugs. It’s better to update it continuously and keep in touch with the developers to fix the solution timely.

Step 5. Keep on iterating

All in all, usability testing is an ongoing process, and here’re some follow-up things to keep in mind:

• Each iteration is a new testing part — try not to include different prototype versions into one testing and separate them into separate ones.
• It’s still just a prototype — don’t overcomplicate and “beautify” your solution to avoid slowdowns.
• Keep it going until you validate your hypotheses and unveil patterns that correspond to both business goals and user needs.

When you take the most out of it, prototype testing is a good chance to get together with your team and feel the way your users feel. So just book a day, stay in the room with the whole team (developers, designers, researchers, etc.) and thoughtfully test your prototype with real users. It could help to make your team minds synced and get closer to an effective solution for your product.