How UX Testing enables you to Put Customers at the Core of your Growth Strategy

Most users are likely to stop using a software application unless they are convinced of its benefits and most importantly, are impressed by its User Experience or UX. This speaks highly of the critical role UX testing plays in the success of a software application. But does UX always get its due in the overall scheme of things is the moot question? The answer is in the negative, thanks to the constraints of budget, time, and resources. This type of testing appears daunting, especially when there are too many things to test (products, features, or pages). Skipping or deprioritizing user experience testing can lead to wastage of time, money, and effort, which the organization has invested. So, let us understand the importance of UX testing and how it can put customers at the core of your growth strategy.

What is UX testing

UX or usability testing is a type of testing wherein the software application is measured for its user-friendliness. In other words, it focuses on the ease of usage of the application by the end-users and determines the best way for users to interact with the application. User testing helps you to figure out what drives customers to buy products or prevents them from doing so. Some of the things the users look out for in a software application include easy navigation, easy access to product information, seamless checkout process, easy to read instructions/symbols, and social proof, among others. This type of testing is executed at the end of product development and testing process by a select group of target users. During UX or user experience testing, the objective is to identify the areas the users find difficult to navigate or perform certain set tasks, besides determining whether the application is useful, usable, desirable, and accessible.

Why is UX testing better than A/B testing?

In A/B or split testing, two variations (A and B) of a software product are given to the users to understand which one performed better based on certain parameters like conversion rate. Here, even if one variation, say A, performs better, it does not necessarily show the effectiveness of A from the users’ perspective. Rather it merely shows that A is better than B. Usability testing, on the other hand, finds out the level of effectiveness of a specific solution by testing with real users. It gives you valuable feedback about why a specific feature or functionality is not working or suitable from the users’ perspective.

What are the benefits of user testing services?

Even though design aesthetics is important to get user traction, the below-mentioned factors or queries can upset the applecart of success of a software application.

• How to go to the next page or where to click next?
• What is the meaning of the icons on display?
• The frequent popping of certain information like how to contact
• Insufficient session time
• Font not legible enough
• Background is dull
• A complex checkout process

The benefits of conducting user interface testing are as follows:

• To evaluate if the software application is customer-centric and meets customer expectations
• Help you target the real issues in a software application rather than fixing the wrong ones and saving considerable money and time
• Identify UX inconsistencies and suggest ways to improve customer satisfaction
• Identify the thought patterns of users while browsing the software application
• Get unbiased feedback about the application from real users
• Building empathy with the user base
• Enhancing the chances of conversion by observing users and identifying areas where (and why) they do not convert
• Saving money, time, and effort by detecting and fixing issues before the application is released to the users. Fixing issues through rework post development can be significantly expensive and time-consuming
• Achieve better NPS score by fixing the problems and making the experience delightful for the end-users
• Spend less time and effort in addressing support requests as happier customers need less support

Conclusion

Quality testing of a software product eliminates the inherent glitches and makes it customer-centric. However, without UX testing there is no way of knowing how the software product will fare once it reaches the end-user. And if the software product doesn’t match the user expectations and turns out to be difficult to use, then the entire effort of developing the product can go waste. Thus, it is a no brainer that usability testing is made an integral part of the SDLC to place customers at the core of one’s growth strategy.

Article Source: medium.com

James Daniel is a software Tech enthusiastic & works at Cigniti Technologies I'm having a great understanding of today's software testing quality