Top ten Mobile Usability Testing Techniques that Every QA Tester Should be familiar with

Mobile devices are being used for the vast majority of commercial tasks. Mobile apps account for 90% of smartphone usage time. It follows that developing an app for your company is a wise move to make sure customers can quickly find you online and have better user experiences. However, it's imperative to recognise the significance of an app's usability before you dive right into mobile application development and app maintenance.

Usability is typically the secret to successful mobile apps. People rank problem-solving activities and ease of use as two of the most important aspects of mobile phone applications. Another body of research demonstrates a connection between user approval and mobile application usability. Mobile usability testing is the best method for assessing the usability of mobile apps. This technique will provide you as a QA Tester Course with insightful information prior to the development of your app and useful optimizations later.

What is testing for mobile usability?

Simulating how a real user might use an app is the technique of conducting mobile usability testing. It entails evaluating a range of elements, including the user interface, performance, functionality, and more. Every software strives to provide its users with a simple and enjoyable experience. To increase user engagement and happiness, the app development team and QA testers should always make sure an app performs its predefined functions.

Why conduct a mobile usability test?

The main goal of conducting a mobile usability test is to spot any potential bugs to make sure it actually offers the value and practicability consumers anticipate. Testing your app's usability can assist you make sure it meets user expectations and adds value to your company. Making sure your mobile app is easy to use will benefit your company's capacity to grow sales and revenue, decrease time spent on customer service, and improve customer happiness.

Here is a list of factors that make it essential to perform a mobile app usability test before making it available for download to the general public, in addition to improving user experiences.

·         Identify the design challenges

·         Look for ways to improve the design

·         Recognize your user preferences and behaviour

·         Reduce the overall cost and duration of troubleshooting

·         Ensure a pleasant user experience

 

What variables are examined during a mobile usability test?

Testing for mobile usability necessitates smooth coordination between numerous components. You must have a defined set of goals and tasks in mind before you start executing variation testing. Additionally crucial are test materials including the content form, the pre- and post-test questionnaires, and the orientation script.

 

The next step is to locate test subjects who are eager to do all the required activities. Most significantly, QA testers must choose the best mobile testing strategy based on the parameters of your mobile usability tests in order to obtain more objective results.

 

The top 10 mobile usability testing techniques that every QA tester should be aware of are listed below.

Modified Usability Testing

A moderator leads participants through the test during a moderated testing session. As a result of the moderator's ability to elicit additional details and ask follow-up questions, this typically produces more thorough results. To learn how users perceive an app over various usage phases, moderators might additionally ask participants to expand on a specific comment. The test flow can be better controlled, and you can get more detailed feedback.

Conducting a controlled usability test has drawbacks, though. Since a lot of resources must be devoted to a small group of people, moderated usability testing is typically very time-consuming and expensive for an organisation. Therefore, it is advised to conduct closely watched testing, such as moderated ones, when you wish to understand the motivation behind user behaviour. Unmoderated usability testing is something you might want to implement if you want to learn about user behaviour patterns.

 

Unmoderated usability testing

Unmoderated usability testing, in contrast to moderated testing, calls for participants to do every task independently, without assistance from the moderator or extra instructions. Testing without a moderator saves time and money. It is ideal for evaluating how users navigate an app in their everyday environments. And it works best if you wish to conduct studies with a high sample size for more quantitative testing.

You must ensure that all instructions are delivered in detail before the test because unmoderated testing requires little to nearly no supervision. Since most unmoderated testing is done online, having a reliable internet connection is crucial for the testing environment. To monitor and measure unbiased user patterns, it is generally advised to conduct unmoderated usability testing.

 

Usability testing in a lab

In a specially created lab, participants are required to complete specified tasks as directed by a qualified moderator. In order to allow note-takers to watch the test without being observed by participants and influencing outcomes, two rooms are separated by a one-way mirror window. Similar to the previously described moderated testing, the moderator will ask questions, give directions, and respond to feedback in real-time. You can also make a recording of the session for later viewing and analysis.

 

Lab usability testing's key benefit is that it offers standardised quality control for each test that is run. This is crucial if you intend to conduct comparative usability testing. Additionally, laboratory usability testing provides in-depth user data on how users are using your product. More valuable insights like user attitude, emotion, and response will be available to you.

 

Guerilla usability tests

Participants for guerilla usability testing are typically selected at random from a public location, such as a coffee shop, mall, airport, or supermarket, and invited to complete a brief usability test in return for small incentives like gift cards or coupons.

Many times, guerrilla testing is carried out among a diverse group of individuals who have never used the product in question before. The UI/UX team uses it occasionally as an impromptu test to make sure they comprehend the functionality and design. Guerrilla testing is one way you can use if you want to swiftly compile a large amount of qualitative data. It increases the visibility of your app before it really launches. In a less formal context, you can also get more accurate user feedback.

 

Contextual investigation

The contextual inquiry method entails watching people use the product in settings that are familiar to them, including their homes or workplaces. The participants will then be observed as they complete a task, and the researchers will elicit the motivations behind their choices in order to gain a greater knowledge of user behaviour.

This technique is a great approach to get accurate information on users, such as preferences for work, character traits, and use cases for the product. These insights are crucial at the beginning of the production process because you'll need as much information as you can get on the personas, feature requests, content, and architecture. Contextual inquiry can be used to check whether your design genuinely satisfies user needs after you've released a product.

You must observe the four basic guidelines when doing contextual inquiry testing:

·         Make sure the user's environment is used for the test.

·         Researchers should collaborate with test subjects to address any concerns they may have, examine their behaviour, and talk about the motivations behind their choices.

·         To obtain more objective results, make sure your research's objectives and questions are clear.

·         To gain a more complete understanding of the full user testing process, researchers should discuss their ideas and interpretations with the user during the interview.

 

Eye-tracking evaluation

A pupil tracking device is used to track a user's eyes during an eye-tracking test. The moderator studies how users focus their attention when given a task to complete using heatmap and pathway diagrams. This sort of testing is very useful if you want to determine whether users will find your app designs entertaining or frustrating to use. It assists companies in determining which element of the mobile design is most appealing to end users to carry out a particular task.

Test of Screen Recording

Screen recording tests are a type of usability testing that document user interactions with mobile devices as they carry out predetermined activities given to them by a moderator. It describes the ease of use and challenges encountered when consumers navigate a mobile app. Moderators can gain additional information by analysing user clicks, swipe gestures, and comments using the video and audio recording features.

 

Phone Interview

One type of remote testing is a phone interview. A moderator will orally direct and record participants as they carry out tasks on their mobile devices in order to get feedback. It's a somewhat economical technique to sample users from various regions. Additionally, it is less expensive than holding private one-on-one interviews. If you want to get a lot of data in a short amount of time, this is the method that is best advised.

 

Sorting Cards

A testing technique called card sorting helps developers determine whether the product design is naturally intuitive and user-friendly. It aids the moderator in deciding how to improve the usability and effectiveness of the app's navigation in the context of app testing. To make categorisation easier to understand, test participants are asked to sort virtual cards that represent distinct navigational parts in the programme.

You can perform card sorting usability testing to identify any features that users are missing or using that are not necessary, and you can use this information to improve your app's navigation overall. Additionally, it serves as a safety by ensuring that the designs adhere to the original objective of the designers.

 

5 Seconds Test

QA testers may want to think about employing a 5 second test to gather consumers' initial reactions and impressions of a mobile app design. It's crucial to capture someone's attention in the initial few seconds of their viewing a design because 55% of visitors spend fewer than 15 seconds on a website. This test method enables you to determine whether a mobile design can effectively communicate its target audience's needs. Participants in the test are shown an image of a landing page or screen for five seconds before the moderator follows up with some questions to collect further data.

 

Summary

However, it is important to remember that it is your journey and your journey alone. It is just a matter of time that you would be able to prove your credentials as a SDET. While the task is certainly not impossible, it does require considerable commitment and determination. You have to create opportunities and expend your energy in undertaking bridge jobs which would place you in between the two roles. Automation is one such great bridge. Indulging in QA Automation Course activities can provide you with programming experience in real time. Thus, it is important to invest your efforts in the right direction and be always on the lookout for the right kind of opportunities.