User tests & digital usability

Evaluating a product or service by subjecting it to use in real-life conditions is an essential part of the design process. Used since the 1980s, usability testing has become an industry standard.

As part of a UX design approach, the benefits of user testing extend far beyond the digital sector: they enable you to assess the quality and relevance of a service's functionalities, its usefulness, ergonomics, performance and adaptability.

Whether you're working on a service or a product that's being developed or improved, whether it's digital or retail, whether you're a company, an institution, an association or a local authority undergoing a transformation, user testing can be implemented easily and at a reasonable cost to remove pain points and shortcomings from your value proposition.

Les tests utilisateurs peuvent être employés sur des produit physiques ou numériques et vont permettre d'évaluer différents aspects :

• Le positionnement affectif et émotionnel des usagers : plaisir à utiliser, connexion avec la marque, envie de recommander.
• La proposition de valeur : perception de l'utilité du service, fonctionnalités maîtresses, pivots à effectuer.
• Les difficultés d'usage : nombre d’erreurs effectuées par le testeur et points de frictions rencontrés.
• La performance : par exemple, pour une application, le nombre d’étapes et le temps nécessaire pour réaliser une tâche simple, la vitesse d'exécution
• La mémorabilité : les éléments dont l’utilisateur se souvient, sous différents délais après l’utilisation.

Les résultats d'un test utilisateur vont permettre d’améliorer l’expérience utilisateur et donc la satisfaction client, mais aussi d’améliorer le discours commercial et les arguments de vente, de confirmer plus généralement des hypothèses afin d’obtenir le meilleur retour sur investissement.

There is no single type of user test that can be applied generically to all situations. This would even be problematic, as we would be missing out on the uniqueness of each service. In fact, every website, every mobile application and every service has unique characteristics and users that need to be clearly identified in order to carry out a relevant audit.

One of the strengths of user testing therefore lies in the wide variety of techniques that can be used to carry it out. As experts in Human Sciences, our Ergonomists, Psychologists, Sociologists and UX Designers build the right protocol for your company's size, budget and different objectives.

In all cases, we work with you to build a structured and rigorous protocol for evaluating usage, based on initial hypotheses, rational objectives and a clearly defined scope.

The user test is also flexible, since it can be carried out remotely or in person, particularly if you want to test physical products or visit a site, a shop, an exhibition, a care programme, etc.

The remote test protocol is implemented via a dedicated platform: easy-to-use and flexible tools such as Zoom, Microsoft teams or Webex. And if complex operations need to be carried out with the participants, we have proprietary platforms for organising the sessions.

The advantages of conducting sessions remotely are obviously the lower costs, but also the ability to deploy them more widely over a wider area. So you don't have to be satisfied with the usual "Parisian samples", which are not representative of local life.

If the product to be tested is digital, there is no difference between face-to-face and distance learning: both produce exactly the same results. Remote testing can even be advantageous in terms of recruitment: users are more likely to take part in a test when they don't have to travel. But also in terms of data collection: users who test their product from home are in their natural testing environment, with the right technical and ecological constraints.

On the other hand, as a Human Sciences specialist, we categorically advise against methods that involve participants testing products on their own and then reporting their findings.

You can't be both judge and jury: during autonomous sessions, users may not understand the protocol, make mistakes without realising it, underestimate their own behaviour and, above all, ignore their real motivations. Autonomous testing should therefore be avoided, as it is certain to produce biased and erroneous data that will undermine your entire retail or digital strategy.

Face-to-face testing, which is relevant when you are testing a physical product, a location, a shop or a particular configuration that requires participants to be present, follows the same rules as digital testing.

We work with you to formulate hypotheses and build a physical test protocol to test your service and your questions against reality.

There are several possible types of test:

• Prototype testing
• Laboratory experimentation
• Mystery visit
• A/B testing
• Focus group testing
• Test-retest...

There are 4 stages to testing a product, website or service as part of an innovation or optimisation process:

• Defining the objectives

Do you want to test the acceptance of an innovative concept or a major change in your services? Do you need to test the potential of a concept before embarking on its development? Are you looking for an explanation for a drop in sales? Defining the objectives of your user tests is essential if you are to put the right protocol in place: is it to detect friction when using an existing product, or to carry out regular usability tests during the development phase of a new product?

• Choosing the user test protocol

Once the objectives have been defined, the most appropriate methodology for testing the service needs to be defined, usability test scenarios constructed, participants sampled and users put through their paces. It may be necessary to recruit rare profiles that are difficult to find.

• Conducting UX tests

Carrying out the protocols may require specific software, test rooms and video recordings. Putting participants in situations requires a certain amount of logistics, as does gathering their feedback.

• Collecting and interpreting results

From the simple collection of comments in the case of a remote survey to the detailed analysis of non-verbal communication signs in face-to-face participants, the data from the various protocols must be interpreted in order to draw up relevant recommendations.

Our expertise in UX research and user testing enables you to manage risks effectively and at an early stage as part of your optimisation or innovation projects.

Whether you're looking to break into a new market or expand internationally, human sciences can provide your protocols with the reliability and usefulness you need to make informed decisions and support your projects.

We offer comprehensive support from psychologists, sociologists, ergonomists and UX specialists, as well as recruiters and panellists experienced in recruiting complex profiles.

We carry out research in France, but we also have a network of international partners enabling us to build from scratch, duplicate or adapt your user research in more than 20 key countries: Europe, the United States, Canada, South America, the Middle East, Asia-Pacific, etc.

Our moderators are then local moderators, immersed in the target culture and with extensive experience in moderating and collecting results, the collection and processing of which we obviously supervise.

Finally, the tests must not remain a dead letter: on the basis of the results of the sessions with the users, we work with you to draw up recommendations and wireframes so that we can support you right through to implementation.