How to conduct mobile app usability testing

Usability is everything when it comes to mobile apps. You can have a great idea, but if your users struggle to navigate your app, they’ll be unlikely to stick around. That’s where mobile app usability testing comes into play.

Mobile app usage differs from desktop usage due to varying screen sizes, touchscreens, and unpredictable usage conditions. These characteristics present an array of challenges for app developers. Testing on actual devices is crucial to reveal issues related to gestures, load times, or responsiveness—issues that may not present on a desktop interface.

Effectively testing your app’s usability ensures it meets user expectations and provides a seamless experience.

Usability testing for mobile apps evaluates how easy and intuitive your app is for users. During testing, real users interact with your app while you observe and take notes. The goal is to identify any pain points or areas for improvement. It’s about understanding how people use your app, not how you think they will.

Running mobile usability tests is crucial for several reasons:

• User-centered design: it encourages you to focus on the user, ensuring their needs and preferences shape your app.

• Error identification: it helps you catch usability issues before they become widespread problems.

• Improved satisfaction: a smooth user experience (UX) leads to happier users, boosting retention, positive reviews, and the bottom line.

• Competitive edge: understanding what works (and what doesn’t) can help you stay ahead of your competitors.

• Optimize mobile-specific performance: mobile app usability testing enables you to address factors that directly affect usability, like load time, gesture responsiveness, and device compatibility.

Mobile app usability testing offers many benefits, including the following:

• Enhanced user experience: by identifying issues with navigation, touch interactions, and content accessibility, you can create a more intuitive and enjoyable app experience.

• Increased conversion rates: a user-friendly app can lead to higher conversion rates, whether that’s through more purchases, sign-ups, or engagement.

• Cost efficiency: fixing problems early in development is often cheaper than addressing them after launch.

• User insights: you gain actionable insights into user behavior and preferences, which can inform future updates and features.

• Stakeholder buy-in: presenting clear findings can help you gain support from stakeholders for necessary changes and enhancements.

• Reduced customer support needs: fewer usability issues result in fewer user complaints and less need for customer support.

• Higher app store ratings: a smoother user experience often leads to positive reviews, improving visibility and credibility in app stores.

Usability testing can significantly improve your app, but it’s essential to avoid common pitfalls as they can undermine the process. Here are some of the common mistakes you’ll want to steer clear of:

• Not defining clear objectives: vague goals make it difficult to analyze data or determine if your usability testing addresses key user concerns.

• Overlooking participant diversity: test groups that don’t represent your app’s users can skew results, as insights may not apply to your broader audience.

• Failing to moderate sessions properly: without a skilled facilitator, you might miss crucial user feedback or fail to clear confusion during tasks.

• Not following up on your findings: if you don’t address the issues identified during the developmental cycle, you risk repeating the same mistakes, alienating your user base, and frustrating your team.

When conducting mobile usability testing, several factors come into play.

• Participants: who you choose to test your app with matters. They should represent your target audience.

• Tasks: define specific tasks for users to complete. This helps you gauge how well they are able to navigate your app.

• Environment: consider whether to conduct tests remotely or in a controlled lab setting.

• Feedback mechanisms: plan how you’ll collect feedback during and after the test, whether that’s through observation, surveys, or interviews.

There are various methods for mobile app usability testing. Below are a few standard methods, along with their pros and cons.

Moderated testing

This method involves a facilitator guiding users through tasks.

Pros:

• Immediate feedback

• Ability to clarify tasks

• Opportunity to ask follow-up questions

• More in-depth insights

Cons:

• Takes more time

• Potential to cost more as participants are paid more than those in unmoderated tests

• The presence of a moderator may influence users to behave differently, leading to less authentic interactions with the app compared to unmoderated, real-world usage

Unmoderated testing

Users complete tasks independently in their own time, often using screen recording software to capture their interactions with the app.

Pros:

• User behavior is more natural

• Convenient

• Cost-effective

• Timing is flexible

Cons:

• Lack of immediate feedback

• Potential for tasks to be misinterpreted

Remote testing

This involves conducting tests online, which can broaden your participant pool and be more convenient for users.

Pros:

• Access to a broader audience and less logistical hassle

Cons:

• Technical issues can arise

• You have less control over the environment

Using multiple testing methods

You can also enhance the credibility of your findings by using multiple testing methods. For instance, combining moderated and unmoderated tests allows you to cross-validate results, ensuring user feedback is consistent across different environments.

When you’re running usability tests, it’s crucial to ask the right questions to gather valuable insights. Here are some examples of questions you might ask. Remember to tailor them to your specific goals.

• How easy or difficult was it for you to find [specific feature]?

• What were your first impressions of the app?

• How would you describe your experience with the clarity of the elements?

• How would you describe your experience using the app?

• Were there any features you expected but didn’t find?

• Did the app meet expectations in terms of performance and speed?

While specific questions are helpful, allowing for open-ended feedback encourages users to express their thoughts freely. This can lead to unexpected insights that you might not have considered and help you better understand the user experience.

Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s dive into the steps you need to take to run a practical and effective mobile app usability test.

Decide on your objectives

Before you start, clarify what you want to achieve. Are you testing a new feature, assessing overall usability, or something else? Your objectives will guide the entire process.

Here are some common objectives:

• Feature evaluation: assess a specific feature’s usability.

• User journey assessment: understand how users navigate through the app.

Design the tasks

Create realistic tasks for users to complete. These should reflect the actual scenarios they would encounter in your app. Aim for a mix of straightforward and more complex tasks to gauge different aspects of usability.

• Clarity: clearly articulate what you want the user to do.

• Relevance: ensure tasks are relevant to real-world usage.

• Feasibility: make sure the tasks are achievable within the testing time frame. Too many tasks in one session could lead to user fatigue, impacting their performance.

Prioritizing relevant, manageable tasks will help your team receive more precise insights.

Choose between lab settings and remote testing

Decide whether to conduct your tests in a controlled environment or remotely. Here’s a quick comparison of the two options:

• Lab testing: lab testing can offer more control and immediate feedback. It’s helpful for detailed observations and may provide fewer distractions for the user. However, conducting tests in a lab can create an artificial atmosphere that may influence user behavior, leading participants to act differently than they might normally.

• Remote testing: remote testing provides a more realistic context for users. A more relaxed setting generally results in more authentic user behavior, but it also gives rise to distractions.

Recruit participants

Approach a sample of your target audience through your participant pool or external agency. Use screeners to filter through the user profiles that reflect your research objectives.

Remember: don’t disclose the complete objectives in your screener to prevent unfit participants from entering your usability test.

Ideally, five to eight users will give you valuable insights without leading to data saturation.

Ready, set, run the test

Gather your participants and conduct the tests. Ideally, you might run one or two pilots with colleagues before your official mobile usability test. This will help validate your materials and testing environment, reducing your risk of wasting time, money, and participants by revealing technical issues early and enabling you to refine task clarity.

Be sure to observe closely, taking notes on the users’ interactions and any comments they make. Encourage them to vocalize their thoughts, as this can provide valuable context.

Here are some tips for a smooth testing session:

• Set the tone: create a welcoming environment to put users at ease.

• Be neutral: avoid leading questions or showing bias during the test.

• Record sessions: if possible, record sessions for later analysis.

• Take notes: it’s helpful to take some notes or have a teammate do it for you in case the participants don’t give consent to be recorded.

Organize and analyze your data

After the tests, it’s time to sort through your data. Look for common themes and patterns. Identify areas where users struggled or expressed confusion, as these are your key focus areas for improvement.

Consider the following steps:

• Categorize findings: group similar issues together for easier analysis.

• Prioritize issues: use a scale to prioritize issues based on severity and frequency.

• Visualize data: create charts, graphs, or tables to illustrate key findings for easier understanding.

Time to act: How to improve based on what you learned

Take the insights, or the correlation between your findings and observations in relation to user motivation, from your testing and start making changes.

Prioritize fixes based on how frequently issues occur and their impact on user experience.

Don’t just patch up problems; think about how you can enhance the overall experience. Consider these strategies:

• Iterative design: iterative design involves making small changes based on feedback and then testing again.

• User involvement: consider involving users in the co-designing process for more targeted improvements.

• Feedback loop: establish a continuous feedback loop to refine your app over time.

Plan your next test 

Usability testing shouldn’t be a one-time event. Plan regular testing sessions throughout your development cycle to refine your app based on user feedback.

• Pre-launch tests: conduct tests before major updates or launches

• Post-launch evaluations: assess usability after launching new features.

• Periodic reviews: regularly check in with users to gather ongoing feedback.

Report the results of the usability test

Once you have completed your analysis, sharing your findings is essential. Create a clear, concise report that outlines:

• An executive summary and key takeaways

• Objectives of the test

• Detailed findings with supporting videos, quotes, and visuals

• Recommended changes

• Next steps

Sharing this report with your team helps ensure that everyone is on the same page and can contribute to improving the app. Consider using visual aids like graphs and charts to make the data more digestible.

In addition to mobile app usability testing, consider other top usability testing methods:

• Contextual inquiry: observe users in their natural environment to understand their behavior and challenges.

• Heuristic evaluation: heuristics involve having experts review your app against established usability principles, which can help identify issues that users might miss. It’s also helpful if you don’t have immediate access to users.

• Card sorting: card sorting helps you understand how users categorize information, aiding in navigation and layout decisions. It may be particularly beneficial for apps with complex information architectures.

• Guerrilla testing: conduct quick, informal tests in public spaces or online with guerilla testing, which allows you to gather spontaneous feedback from a broad range of users. This method is great for gaining early insights and testing rough prototypes.

Selecting the right participants for testing is vital. Aim for a diverse group of individuals who reflect your target audience’s demographics and behaviors. Use criteria such as age, tech-savviness, familiarity with similar apps, and jobs to be done.

You can recruit through social media, forums, or user panels.

Mobile UI testing, also known as GUI testing, is a type of software testing that evaluates your app’s user interface, ensuring that it’s visually appealing and functions correctly. This includes checking layout, buttons, icons, and overall design elements for usability and aesthetics.

Regular testing is essential. Ideally, you should test after significant design updates, before major launches, and periodically to ensure the app remains user-friendly as user needs evolve.

Several tools can aid in the usability testing process:

• UserTesting for remote testing and feedback

• Lookback for recording user sessions and gathering insights

• Optimal Workshop for card sorting and tree testing

• Hotjar for heat maps and session recordings to analyze user behavior

• Dovetail to organize recordings and build your insight repository

Ensuring unbiased results in usability testing is crucial for obtaining authentic insights into user behavior.

Employing a diverse group of participants that reflect the demographics and behavior of your target audience is one way to ensure a wide range of perspectives. However, you should also take several other steps to ensure accurate and unbiased results.

It’s essential to develop clear, neutral tasks that don’t lead participants toward a specific outcome. This helps prevent any unintentional cues that could influence their behavior. A double-blind approach, where neither the facilitator nor the participants know the exact outcomes being tested, can also reduce bias.

Gathering qualitative and quantitative data is another way to provide a balanced view. While qualitative feedback offers rich insights into user feelings and experiences, quantitative data can highlight trends and patterns that reinforce findings, making it easier to identify actionable improvements without bias.

If users struggle to understand your app, it’s a clear sign to reassess your design. Simplify navigation, enhance onboarding processes, and ensure your app’s language is user-friendly. Use user feedback and suggestions before creating a new usability test.

Conducting mobile app usability testing is a vital step in creating a successful app. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you’ll be well on your way to delivering a user-friendly experience that keeps your audience engaged and satisfied.