User Testing

Letter U

Evaluation of a product with real users to validate usability, comprehension, and satisfaction.

Updated:

Working definition

User testing (usability testing) observes real people using a product or prototype to surface usability issues before launch.

Modes by phase

  • Exploratory: understand mental models and vocabulary.
  • Evaluative: measure whether a specific task completes successfully.
  • Comparative: A/B two variants with clear metrics.

Practical rule

Five users often reveal most severe issues in a focused flow; the value is in iterating, not the magic number.