Prototype Testing

Why should you use this template?

Are you making a forum for hot-air-balloon enthusiasts? Maybe you’re toying with the idea of a journaling app for dogs. No matter the objective or size of your organization, the goal of prototyping remains (largely) the same: evaluate your design’s ability to support user success.

Prototyping is the definition versatile; you have a plethora of method variations to choose from. This can be both a curse and a blessing. With so many options, how can you be confident that you’ve chosen the best fit for your situation?

Think of this template as a stress-free, no-judgement-zone, where you can try out the basics before diving into more complex methods.

Testing Outcomes

• Determine if the design successfully communicates the product/service at a glance.
• Evaluate overall usability of the prototype.
• Provide concrete recommendations for improvement.

Organization Benefits

• Gain invaluable customer feedback before committing to a full launch.
• Deliver a higher quality end-product that will better serve your customers’ needs.

Test Questions

1. What do you think you can do on this website?
   Free Response
   Start with first impressions. What are the first elements of the prototype to catch (and hold!) your user’s eye?
2. What other tools can you think of that are similar to this product?
   Free Response
   Investigate the competition with this free response question. This can also help determine if the purpose & goals of your product are clear to your users.
3. Complete this directive on this platform.
   Prototype Directive
   Specific prototype directives like this are great for evaluating specific tasks within your design.
4. How much do you agree with this statement? “This design’s capabilities meet my requirements”
   Likert Scale
   These next two likert questions are a part of the UMUX-lite measure and are a powerful benchmarking metric for overall usability of a prototype.
5. How much do you agree with this statement? “This design is easy to use”
   Likert Scale
   Feel free to edit this template, but ideally, this question is always paired with the previous one.

Additional Questions

• Was there anything that surprised you? If yes, what?
• Was there anything you expected to find that was not there?
• What was difficult or strange about this task, if anything?
• What was unnecessary, if anything?
• Was anything out of place? If so, what was it?
• If you had a magic wand, what would you change about this experience/task?
• How would you rate the difficulty level of this task?
• Did it take you more or less time than you expected to complete this task? Would you normally
• spend this amount of time on doing this?
• What do you think this tool/ website is for?
• What do you think you can do on this website/ in this app?
• When would you use this?
• Does the prototype do what it’s supposed to?
• Do users think the product’s design matches its purpose?
• What’s the first thing users would want to do on this product? Can they do that?
• When they explore the product, do they become confused at any point?
• Does anything distract them or get in their way?