The discipline of usability testing is one way to create a good consumer experience.

Usability has been defined as the “measure of quality when interacting with something”. This can cover anything from ATMs to websites, mobile phones to retail branches. Usability means people interacting with an organisation can do so quickly and easily. It must be a simple, engaging and enjoyable experience.

Probably the most popular method of usability is user testing. This is the process of learning about ordinary customers by watching them interact with a touch point. This process involves observing a number of representative users in one-on-one sessions as they carry out set tasks. The facilitator watches what they do whilst listening to participants think aloud as well as looking out for patterns of behaviour across participants.

User testing is not quite the same as a focus group. Where a focus group will learn about people’s opinion, user testing will learn about what people actually do when interacting with a product. Traditional market research is particularly useful for understanding how people think, but generating good customer experiences require more work than that. This is where user testing really shines as we can learn how people will behave in a real situation.

There is a strong belief that there is some sort of “magic formula” when it comes to creating a good customer experience. Many industries and companies can tumble into this trap. Back in 2003, the LA Times ran a report that claimed a British academic had worked out the requirements for a hit movie. Apparently, the formula for creating a box office smash must include 30 percent action, 17 percent comedy, 13 percent good vs. evil, 12 percent sex/romance, 10 percent plot, 10 percent special effects and about 8 percent music.

As easily as one can be persuaded by such a simple formula, this doesn’t work in real life. The world is a tangled mess and full of real people who want to get things done and out of the way in the shortest possible time. In order to meet these needs, we must use a mix of research methods to understand their needs and because simply understanding needs are not enough, we need to understand their behaviours as well.

Researching usability helps to ensure that customer interactions are efficient, satisfying and useful; you simply cannot have a world class customer experience without it.

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