Usability testing refers to the process of determining how well your customers are able to engage with your digital platforms and non-digital assets. Usability testing is one of the most popular research methods employed within the broad umbrella of experience design testing, to determine how well your user experience platforms are meeting your customers’ needs and expectations.
Usability testing puts the customer at the centre of the business and provides your business with actionable insights into how your customers can better engage with your products or services. As the world’s products and services market continues to prioritize the digital landscape, usability testing is considered an integral component of developing a world-class product or service that can be embraced by all types of users. As usability testing has modernized to capture and test the needs of contemporary consumers, the current model of usability testing looks very different from when it first appeared in the corporate world. Read on to find our guide to usability testing in 2019.
Usability Testing Methods
The two most popular methods of usability testing in 2019 are known as ‘Moderated User Testing’ and ‘Online User Testing’.
Moderated User Testing: Moderated user testing involves interviewing and observing users in a one-on-one environment, while they complete certain tasks on a business’ existing digital platforms. As the interviewer and subject are together throughout the test, the interviewer is able to probe deeper into specific behaviours and preferences that are observed as the user completes certain tasks.
Online User Testing: Online user testing utilizes a larger segment of participants and a broader geographical scope, to test users as they complete tasks online and within their home environments. This method of testing brings you as close as possible to capturing the diverse range of people who will be using the product and how different environments impact on the usability of the product or service. People can use technology in many unexpected ways. Online user testing allows a business to determine how real users reject and reappropriate the intended use of certain functions within a digital platform.
Prototypes
Usability testing in 2019 is all about prototypes. Testing a new application or website design in the prototype stage rather than in the final stages of a product launch has completely revolutionized the usability research industry.
Prototypes enable all those working on a specific project to quickly modify, create and test new ideas. It enables developers the flexibility to explore design options before the website or application reaches the later stages of the development process. Prototypes provide a fully-functional and interactive representation of the proposed digital platform that can be subject to user testing. This enables user testing researchers to quickly observe how a design will work with real users and suggest modifications that are inexpensive and simple to apply in the prototype stage.
Contextual Enquiry
Conducting contextual enquiries is an important component of usability testing in 2019. This type of enquiry should be utilised throughout all stages of the design and development process of a new application or website. At the start of the design process, this method of enquiry can steer developers away from certain decisions. In the evaluation stage, it can be used to observe how a prototype performs (or underperforms) within a variety of real-world environments and contextual settings.
The contextual enquiry in usability testing enables researchers to observe how the behaviours and decisions of users are affected as a result of their natural environment. When being observed in an unfamiliar and sterile research room, real people are unlikely to act naturally and utilise a product in their usual way. Conducting a contextual enquiry in a person’s natural habitat enables the user to be at ease and produces more accurate data for businesses to utilise.
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Usability testing is an essential step in the creation of a product or service that can easily be utilised and enjoyed by real, everyday people. To deliver high-class products for your customers, it is essential to engage the services of a leading experience research and strategy consultant.
The short version: Usability testing is about watching real users interact with your product to find what works and what doesn’t. It’s not about testing the users – it’s about testing your design decisions and finding the friction points that prevent people from achieving their goals.
2026 Update: What Has Changed About Usability Testing Since I First Wrote This
I wrote this guide back in 2019 and, honestly, a fair bit of it still holds up. The core principles of watching real humans struggle with your product and then fixing what breaks them – that never goes out of date. But the tools, the timelines, and the expectations around usability testing have shifted quite a lot, and I want to give you a straight, current picture before you read what I wrote originally.
The biggest change I have seen is that AI-assisted analysis has moved from a novelty into something most serious teams are using daily. Tools like Maze and UserTesting have both built AI layers that summarise session recordings, flag where users hesitated, and group similar friction points together automatically. This does not replace your own critical thinking – please do not let it – but it does mean you can process a batch of sessions in a fraction of the time it used to take. What I would caution is that the AI summaries can flatten nuance. Always watch at least a handful of sessions yourself.
Remote usability testing is now the default, full stop. In 2019 I was still recommending in-person lab testing as the gold standard for many situations. I have softened on that. The quality of remote sessions has improved dramatically, participants are more comfortable with the format, and the recruitment pools are genuinely more diverse than what most in-person labs could pull together. Moderated remote sessions via tools like Lookback or UserZoom are where I now spend most of my testing budget recommendations when I work with clients.
One thing that has got worse, not better, is participant attention spans during unmoderated tests. Tasks need to be shorter, clearer, and more focused than ever. If you are writing tasks that take longer than about eight minutes to complete, you will see drop-off rates that skew your results badly. Break your test into smaller, sharper chunks. I cannot stress this enough after watching so many clients collect messy data because their task sets were too ambitious.
Finally, accessibility testing has gone from a nice-to-have conversation to a legal and commercial priority in 2026, particularly for anyone selling into the UK or EU market. Build it into your usability testing process from the start, not as a separate audit at the end. Screen reader testing, keyboard navigation, colour contrast – these belong in your standard testing script now, not in a separate project six months later.
Frequently asked questions
How many users do I need to test with?
You don’t need hundreds of users. Five to eight users will reveal about 85% of usability issues. After that, you start hearing the same problems repeated. It’s better to test with a smaller group, fix issues, and test again than to test with a huge group once.
Should I test with my target audience?
Yes, whenever possible. Your actual target users will interact with your product differently than your colleagues or random people from the street. They have the real problems your product solves, and the real context in which they’d use it.
What’s the difference between usability testing and user research?
User research is about understanding who your users are, what they need, and why. Usability testing is specifically about testing whether your solution works for them. You need both – research to inform what you build, and usability testing to check that it works.
Can I do usability testing on a budget?
Absolutely. You can test with friends and colleagues, conduct sessions from your office or coffee shop, and record tests with free tools. The key is getting users using your product and observing where they struggle.
Related reading: What Questions Should You Ask the Interviewer? The Ones That Get You Hir.
