Usability Testing


When I started to work on my first project (fortunately I got an opportunity to work in a mobile application project) after two months of training, I thought that I was doing well and travelling in the right path. During one of the “QA discussion” sessions, my manager asked me to take a presentation regarding the training given to me and my first project experience. She wanted to understand my perspective of the training and project experience. I spent lots of effort on creating a presentation. I took the presentation with the title “Starting a career as testing professional”. Generally in our meetings we used to have technical presentations, however, with just 3 months of experience in the field of testing, I did not have much to contribute technically (also the fear on what to present in front of experienced testers). Hence, I proceeded to share my 3 months of experience, based on my self-analysis, I compared myself with the developers and how my QA team involved in my career growth.

Everyone in the team enjoyed my presentation and they gave their feedback. My manager told that my presentation was very interesting and appreciated the creativity.She also told me to improve my communication skills.I had a great sigh of relief, that I have got a fairly good appreciation for my presentation(seemed positive that what I had expected). Just when I was going to feel relaxed, my TL asked the manager to give feedback about my performance in the project( this question was totally unexpected from my TL. Numerous thoughts came to me as to am I going to be put down in front of a team of 15 members.Oh God!!am I going to get disgusting feedback for the work that I have been doing.I am only 1 month into the project,how can one give feedback about my performance???). While all these thoughts flashed, my manager suddenly replied that I needed to develop in various kinds of testing but he is good at usability testing.
Now the problem starts here, what. . ? What did my manager tell about me? Is it so I'm good at usability testing. Now I have come up with new questions as a tester myself “What is usability testing. . ?” And “What is usability. . ?” Now, what else started googling and didn’t find much about usability. Just got an answer “Usability testing is type of end user testing how comfortable the product is for the users”, the answer didn’t impress or satisfy me.

Whenever I'm using various applications in my mobile and also testing my project in office mobiles (different mobile devices are available), sometimes I used to think what I'm actually expecting and how the application fulfills my expectation. Day by day, started thinking about usability
§  How I'm using mobile?
§  How can I perform the task in an optimized manner?
§  What are the shortcuts the application provides to the user?
§  Did user find work/did it meet his requirement with the application?
§  Did the application perform well or is it killing the user’s time to complete the task?
§  What are the popular applications available in the market, is good in usability. ?
§  How to make an application friendly and usable?
So on so many questions I raised myself. Then I realized my manager’s feedback about me, “He is good at usability testing”.

This blog regarding “Usability Testing”, for example we see mobile usability testing, because mobile is the future world, compact, simple and huge users around the world. There are several types of mobile available in different size and with different OS. Today the most popular smart phones are “iPhone, Android and Windows Phone”. Each and every phone having its own “Trait”, people automatically adapt to their smart phone trait. Even though they are smart phone users each and every smart phone having its own functionality. Below picture shows the very basic trait, this is how the mobile phone users are different from one another.


This basic trait makes very different experience from one another devices, each application wants to satisfy different mobile user.

For example “Social Apps”, which is available for all different devices. “IPhone” has only one home button, here the user expecting “Back” button inside the application but in “Windows and Android Phone” are having inbuilt back button. “Windows Phone” allows to create the menu button in the bottom meanwhile android allows the menu button in the top. The below image shows that same application having “Attachment Menu Icon” in different place in one other device, here the tester needs to concentrate on the respective smart phone functionality completely before starting to test the application’s usability.

There are several hundreds of social applications available in the market only a few applications downloaded by the large number of users as well as actively used by those users. The application may be likable but if it is not usable one, people won't use respective application even though they like. We can make the users to download the application by the better advertisement and marketing but unable to make them as active users. Only usable application attract the users slow and steady will hit, without butter advertisement and marketing.

Info “Image” speak more than the “Paragraph of Text”, hence we need to provide short and fast accessing application to the users.

First the tester needs to focus on the device functionality:
·         What is the device OS
·         What is the device OS Version
·         What is the functionality of the device
·         What are the key factors available in the device
·         Feature available in the device and so on

Secondly the tester needs to focus on the Application functionality
·         What is the target of the application?
·         How the application matches or handles the device functionality?
·         How the application work with the device key factor?
·         How can the application use the device feature?
·         How the application going to help the user?
·         How short the user can reach the target?
·         How many times the user needs to tap the icons?
·         How the application get work in the device?
·         How can we do for a better user experience?
·         How much space it occupies in the memory?
·         How much RAM should application consume?

Compare the Application in one other Device
            When testing the usability of the application, test the application by installing in various devices in various sizes in various OS versions. Comparative testing gives the better user experience. If you focus android device open the application in 3inches device to 5inches advice and android 2.0 to android 4.4 version. Maximum there won't be any functionality issue, but you can experience several UI issue example “Image” won’t fit in all the device as exactly what we expect and “Button” frame may overlap one other button.

Now you may come up with the question why different OS version?
            Android 2.0 having different functionality when compared to Android 4.0 please see the below image. Where Android 2.0 having inbuilt “Menu” and “Back” button on it, but android 4.0 having only “Back” button.



Evaluation of Usability
            As per the evaluation of OS, the application should be upgraded and fit into the new OS. Maximum tries the application to the latest version of the OS because all the mobile device having the option to upgrade the OS. As we know mobile companies providing a free update for OS whenever the new OS version is available for the new user experience. Peoples eager to update the OS whenever it is available.

User Cognition
            As we know, there won't be any need that the end user has to be technically or functionally strong about our product. But they will be comfortable using their own smart phones. By this they can easily come up with the usability issues, meanwhile we want to  concentrate on the application functionality when end user working with our application because they won't have enough knowledge about our application for the first time. By this we can experience that how users think.

Device Key Feature and Our Application
            As mentioned before our application wants to work according to the device. For example iPhone not having “Menu” button or “Back” button, in Android some device having inbuilt “Menu” button and “Back” button and some device having only “Back” button but windows phone only has “Back” button. If we provide “Back” button for “Android” and “Windows” application means that won't make any sense. “Application is for the device, device is not for our application”.

Mobile vs. Desktop in Usability Testing
            By the above information I had mentioned only about mobile usability testing. Yeah, there are so many usability issues in the desktop, even though it's quite different from mobile. How? There are several applications available for both desktop and mobile. User can use desktop only by two different ways may be sitting in the chair or laying on the floor when using a laptop, but laptop and desktop need a stand to place it. But mobile is totally different, user can use mobile application whenever and whatever they are doing. User can use mobile when walking, joking, running, lay on the floor, hanging on the bus, taking tea in one hand and can operate mobile by another hand, here user hand working as mobile stand and single finger is enough to operate the complete mobile application. And also mobile is the future of the world which compress the world inside our hand.

Usability is defined by 7 Quality Components:
Learnability: How easy is it for users to accomplish basic tasks, when the first time they using the application. Did the design is simple and easy to access around the application at very first time for the end user. How shortly he/she get familiar with the menus and functionality of the application
Effectiveness: Once users have learned the application design, how quickly can they perform tasks? How quickly they can access the application, how they using the application with the device key factors and features.
Likability: Application design should be liked by the user, if they like the application they will share with their friends and promote them to use our application. Simple and quick usability make the users to like the application.
Utility: Application should be useful one, should allow them to store or handle the task whatever the user need. If the application is for storage it should allow maximum storage as well as, the application wants to execute quickly when download and upload the data.
Memorability: When users return to the Application after a long period, how easily can they reestablish proficiency? If the application database stored cloud environment, the user can easily able to retrieve the data. How familiar with his old data and application functionality  
Mistakes: How many mistakes do users make, how severe are these mistakes, and how easily can they recover from the mistakes?
Fulfillment: How pleasant the application is to use and easy access, did fulfill the user expectation and experience.

Conclusion:
            You are the best usability tester for your own, test all application what are all you using on your mobile. You are an end user as well as a tester and try to find the usability issues you are facing, make a note how to overcome those usability issues in the respective application. Test the application completely used the device key factor and features, come with a solution. Discuss with your friend and colleagues will help you to become a “Best Usability Tester”.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Integrate JMeter in Grafana Dashboard by using InfluxDB as a backend