Usability tests are a thing of the past — Trust customer behaviour over intention
For years we have predicted customer behaviour with intentions… we can stop now! Methodology and technology to test behaviour just as easily and arguably faster than testing intention, exist. So, why bother with intention?
Most people cannot think in abstractions or envision a new concept. When asked to describe their behaviour they speak in the form of intentions (versus real behaviour). This only means that our jobs as solution creators and providers involves making the big leap for your customers. We need to provide them with a reason to buy, a reason to brag to their friends (Word of Mouth)
In a recent study we ran for our client, we were looking to understand how people develop leadership skills. When we asked individuals they said their managers identified areas of improvement for them. They then sought out role models and learnt by watching. That sounded far too easy and in our own experiences we know that to not be true. So why did our customers say so? I beleive it is because they wished that could be true i.e. intention and not actual behaviour.
To really understand customers, you need to get into their heads and be able to tell their stories. In my experience this can only be done when you hear what they have to say but also observe what they do, understand how they think and identify how they feel. You can become so familiar with customer habits, problems, and patterns that you are able to surprise them with a solution they didn’t even know was possible until you gave it to them.
Once the solution is built most of us ask the customer if they would use it. When it comes to innovation, customers’ opinions may possibly take us down the wrong path. Usability tests where we ask the customer to do some tasks and watch behind the one way mirror assumes that the customer will take the time to do what we are asking them to do. That too could take us down the wrong path.
The only way to know if the customer would actually use it and brag to their friends is to test real behaviour. Prototype, build fake-o-backends, do what you need to do to test real behaviour. I have used Lean Experimentation popularized by Eric Ries and that has served me really well.
Another input rarely used is data. For those of us that work on existing products, data (their usage) gives you behavioural data. You dont need to ask customers what they would do in a particular situation, you can see what they do. The question to understand from customers is why they do what they do.
I realize there are a lot of usability test believers, as Designers and Innovators, we’ve relied on usability tests for years… we don’t need to anymore.