Useful usability testing activities

Crafting effective activities for usability testing is a tricky business: the activities need to be clear, have a measurable success outcome, and avoid introducing bias through phrasing or direction.

When we find an effective activity for usability testing, it’s worth capturing it for future re-use. Not only does this make it easier to do future research, but by re-using the same activities, we can compare new research against previous research to understand how the experience is changing over time.

Here are some activities we’ve found to be effective for testing on the user research instance:

From the Search home chips research.

Before you do anything on this page, what do you think Sourcegraph is for? [Verbal response]
Your coworker is looking for code to reuse in a project you’re working on right now. They’ve asked you to use Sourcegraph to find an example of how the “trace” method is used in Fable Lab’s arkit codebase. Please share your thoughts out loud as you do so. [Verbal response]
Did you find an example of how the “trace” method is used in Fable Lab’s arkit codebase? [Multiple choice: Yes, No, I’m not sure]
Did the process of conducting this search work as you expected? [5-point Rating scale: Not at all to Exactly]
Why or why not did this search work as you expected? [Verbal response]
Your coworker is now wondering if the “trace” method is still used regularly in your company’s codebase. They’ve asked you to use Sourcegraph again to learn if someone has used the “trace” method in their code in the arkit codebase within the past three months. Please share your thoughts out loud as you do so.
Did you find the answer to whether someone used the “trace” method in their code within the past three months? [Multiple choice: Yes, No, I’m not sure]
Did the process of conducting this search work as you expected? [5-point Rating scale: Not at all to Exactly]
Why or why not did this search work as you expected? [Verbal response]
How easy was Sourcegraph to use? [5-point Rating scale: Very difficult to Very easy]
Now that you’ve completed these activities, how would you describe what Sourcegraph does if you were talking to a coworker? [Verbal response]