Chris L. Davis
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Early user testing for designers

Purpose

Check your intuition and validate early

Being too close to the product can sometimes take you in the wrong direction. Even numerous reviews with a variety of internal perspectives won't always solve the problem for the intended user.

My Role

Justify value of early validation to the design team.

It doesn't have to be a large-scale test in order to be effective. Utilizing tools like usertesting.com, Nate Bolts (remote research), Ethnio, 5secondtest.com can provide a great reality check before moving the project forward. Collaboration with Avvo's lead user researcher on new services/techniques also allows us to conduct our own user research.

Outcome

Early testing helps the team remain focused on the end-user.

Early validation is one of the best ways reduce unnecessary cycles/waste. It also provides revitalization if the project is feeling stale. Being too close to the project is natural, but recognizing the bias and putting something up on usertesting.com, for example, proactively adds valuable perspective outside of the building.


Next: Avvo Q&A Optimization