[QA.NT.3] Prioritize user experience with UX testing
Category: RECOMMENDED
User experience (UX) testing provides insight into the system's user interface and overall user experience, ensuring that they align with the diverse requirements of its user base. Adopting UX testing ensures that as the system evolves, its design remains intuitive, functional, and inclusive for end users.
Recognize that UX is subjective and can vary based on demographics, tech proficiency, and individual preferences. Segment your tests to understand the diverse needs and preferences of your user base. This means creating different user profiles and scenarios, ensuring that the software is tested from multiple perspectives. There are various forms of non-functional UX tests which should be utilized to target specific improvements:
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Usability testing: UX tests determines the ease with which users can perform tasks using the application and evaluates if the interface is intuitive and user-friendly. Usability testing helps identify issues related to the application's design, navigation, and overall ease of use, ultimately leading to building a better product. Conduct usability testing by recruiting a diverse group of testing participants that represent the broader user base. Provide these users with typical tasks they would perform when using the application. Observe the testing participants and their interactions, note areas where they encounter challenges, confusion, or get frustrated. During observation, encourage the participants to verbalize their thought process as they perform the tasks. After the tasks are completed, conduct a brief feedback session to gather additional perspective on their use of the application. Use this data to drive user experience improvements and to fix any bugs that were discovered. To continuously gather feedback over time, ensure that there are mechanisms for users to provide feedback as they interact with the system.
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Accessibility testing: UX tests that evaluate the application to ensure that it can be accessed and used by everyone. Regularly review web content accessibility guidelines (WCAG
) to ensure compliance with the latest standards. To get started quickly, consider adopting an existing design system which incorporates accessibility best practices and a framework to create accessible applications, such as the Cloudscape Design System . Automate accessibility tests as a part of the development lifecycle using tools like Axe or WAVE . Adopt tools that evaluate specific accessibility standards, such as color contrast analyzing tools like WebAim . Consider regularly conducting manual exploratory tests using assistive technologies to capture issues that automated tools might miss.
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