A test where people narrate their experience while performing a given task
Use this template to take notes during think-aloud testing to reveal important insights and inferences, pinpoint where the success and failure points are in their system, and diagnose the causes.
When successful, a think-aloud test reveals important insights and inferences that would otherwise be unknown to a design team.
To make the most of your think-aloud testing, follow the below steps.
Use the first section of the template to clearly describe the problem you’re looking to solve through your research. This should be done in 1-2 short sentences.
Once you have the goal established, add sticky notes with each of the key tasks involved in the process you are testing. For example, if you are building a shopping app for an online store, you might have tasks like ‘share with a friend,’ ‘save to favorites,’ or ‘add to cart.’
Outline the talking points that each team member should go over with each tester, in order to frame the context and make the process as clear as possible.
As each person in your test group goes through the tasks in the assignment, have a dedicated team member record notes, questions, and observations regarding their experiences.
Once you’ve run through the tasks with each tester, have your team add their key takeaways from the exercise by looking for any themes or groups, and gathering that feedback together for analysis and next steps.
To run a successful think-aloud template workshop, you should
Think-aloud testing is a usability testing method that involves asking users to verbalize their thoughts, feelings, and reactions while they interact with a product or website. The user is asked to complete a set of tasks or scenarios while expressing their thought process out loud, providing insight into their experience and highlighting areas of confusion or frustration.
Think-aloud testing is a powerful tool for understanding user behavior and improving product usability. By listening to users' thoughts and reactions as they navigate a product or website, designers and developers can identify areas of improvement, discover pain points, and gain valuable insights into user needs and preferences. It can help teams build empathy with their users and ensure that the product is designed to meet their needs.
An example of think-aloud user testing could be asking a participant to complete a task on a website, such as finding a specific product or signing up for a newsletter. As they complete the task, the participant would be asked to verbalize their thought process, including their reactions to the design, any confusion or difficulties they encounter, and their overall satisfaction with the experience. This information could then be used to improve the website's design and functionality, making it easier and more intuitive for users to complete their desired tasks.
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