How can you effectively conduct research and insight pieces if you don’t know what competitors are doing? In our opinion, you can’t.
There are a wide range of tools on the market that allow you to be able to test various concepts, whether these are new designs for your website or business ideas. One of our favourite tools to utilise is Usabilityhub. We often use this tool to get other professional opinions on designs, but also to quantify the ideas too.
One of the best aspects about being on this platform, is that you can be a tester too. So not only can you upload your own designs and studies, but you can also take part in other peoples’.
We think this is great, and here’s why:
Get inspiration from other brands
Usabilityhub strives itself upon there being a wide range of different brands that use the platform, as well as agencies. This means that there is always the opportunity to share your own knowledge, but also be inspired by studies that other companies are conducting.
With there being various features and different types of studies being launched within the tool, it’s great to understand how these are being used – and how you can use this functionality within your own projects.
Understand what study types work
As a tester on the platform, you often see very similar studies being conducted time and time again. In our experience, these typically consist of the following:
- Preference test – where a user needs to pick between two different designs and explain why they like one the most.
- Five second test – where you are presented a design and need to remember as much as you can about it, before you are asked a series of questions.
These short and snappy tests allow you to be able to either decide on a final design, with data that backs it up, or understand if the most important elements stand out to a user. When these tests are created correctly, they can present you with some really valuable insights for a small cost.
Learn what NOT to do in your own studies:
On the other hand, there are some studies that are examples of what you shouldn’t do, and you can take learnings from these.
Ensure users can tell the difference between variations
Countless times when reviewing two different variations, there have been no differences between the two. Not only is this a waste of money and an error on the creator’s behalf, but users (like me) often spend a large amount of time trying to find the differences, with no luck.
This goes to show that triple checking the files to the platform, is key.
Make sure that the task is as clear as possible
Often when viewing tests in the platform, they can be overwhelming and difficult to answer. An example of one of these is below: the answer seemed to be so obvious that doubt came in when answering.
When possible, all tasks should be as explanatory as possible and be simple for users to be able to answer.
Don’t make tasks over difficult, because users won’t do them
When being presented with this test, automatically we abandoned completing the task. Why? Because there was no hyperlink behind the URL, and therefore it seemed to be too much hard work to access the required material.
Consideration should always be taken to make a task as simple as possible for a user, to prevent them abandoning.
Summary
Overall, we would recommend being an active tester as it means that you get to see examples of what works, and what doesn’t work for other brands. Often we will advise clients to also sign up to platforms such as these if they are interested in doing forms of research, as it enlightens them as to what other companies also do.
Want to find out more about our user researching offering? Get in touch with us today.
