📚 Manage Planet 4 > Information Architecture > User Testing Guide
Overview
This page serves as a comprehensive resource for understanding and conducting user testing within the context of a project. While this can be applied to any website at various different stages, this resource will specifically guide NROs who are in the process of implementing the new information architecture and navigation (IA&Nav) on your website. Here, you’ll find everything you need to know about what user testing is, why and when we recommend testing, and how to use it to improve your website.
- User testing: User testing involves direct interaction with users to assess the usability and effectiveness of a website and encompasses both qualitative and quantitative research methods.
- When to test: User testing can take place at various stages of website development, spanning from ideation to post-launch, with the aim of consistently improving the site and effectively addressing user needs. Read on to learn more about when we recommend specific user testing.
- How this connects to the IA&Nav project: The aim of the IA&Nav project is to improve the website navigation and usability of Planet 4 websites. User testing is a big part of making sure that the changes are both working for and make sense to your users. Use this testing guide to learn more about what you could test and how to use the insights to improve your website as part of this project.
- Disclaimer: We recommend consulting with your local teams before conducting any user testing. This ensures alignment with potential existing projects/strategies (i.e. JEDIS) and compliance with all laws, including relevant data protection laws and regulations regarding the collection, storage, and usage of data.
Identifying pain points and setting goals
Before diving into testing, it’s crucial to identify the pain points that your users encounter. As part of our ongoing efforts, the Planet 4 team has identified common pain points across Planet 4 websites to address. Your NRO may experience the same pain points or you may identify others. Setting clear goals is equally important; it helps to focus testing efforts and measure success.
Pain points
Areas where users struggle or experience frustration within a website.
How to identify your pain points
Identifying pain points on a website broadly involves gathering feedback from users through user research, surveys, and analytics, as well as directly observing user behavior to pinpoint areas causing frustration or dissatisfaction during their interaction with the site. Examples which may indicate pain points for your NRO, if applicable, could include:
- High bounce rates or exit rates
- Drop-off in the conversion funnel
- Negative feedback and/or frustration and confusion from users
- Low engagement metrics
- And more…
After identifying your website’s own pain points, or aligning with the ones that the Planet 4 team recognized, we recommend writing down any presumed reasons for them and your proposed solutions, as well as how you will test, measure, and follow up to address them.
What the P4 team did to identify pain points
The Planet 4 team conducted quantitative research by analyzing Google analytics and launching a global survey on P4 websites, as well as qualitative research through usability testing, one-on-one interviews, and campaign and engagement specialist interviews. To learn more, see the IA & Navigation Audit – Key takeaways slide deck.
Setting goals
In order to ensure clarity, alignment, and feasibility, it’s important to set goals when testing and measuring pain points. Goals provide a roadmap to address these challenges, measure progress, and maintain focus. When setting goals, you may wish to answer the following questions:
- What specific outcome or improvement do I want to achieve by addressing this pain point?
- How will I measure progress or success?
- What are the key factors or metrics I should track to assess the effectiveness of my efforts?
- How can I ensure that the goals I set are realistic and achievable with the given constraints?
Deciding what to test
To streamline the testing process, we’ve developed a decision tree flow chart to help determine what you should test based on your NROs goals/resources/interests. This interactive tool guides you through key considerations and prioritizes testing based on project goals.
Bias in user research
Bias in user research can be consciously or subconsciously letting one’s assumptions, beliefs, values, and prejudices enter the research at any stage, which can undermine the validity of the research and can result in inaccurate insights. Recognizing and addressing bias is important for gathering reliable insights and making well-informed decisions. To minimize bias, researchers should practice self-awareness, clearly define research goals, choose diverse participants, and use both qualitative and quantitative methods. To learn more about what biases you may have, check out Project Implicit.
Designing unbiased questions
- Use neutral language
- Example: Instead of asking ‘How much did you appreciate how easy it was to find volunteer opportunities on our website?’ you could ask, ‘How would you describe your experience finding volunteer opportunities on our website?’
- Be specific
- Example: Instead of ‘Did you find the Greenpeace website useful?’ you could ask ‘What information were you looking for on the Greenpeace website?’ and ‘Did you find the information you were looking for?’
- Avoid double-barreled questions
- Example: Instead of ‘Was the donation form and campaign information easy to understand?’ you could ask, ‘Was the campaign information clear?’ and ‘Was the donation form clear?’
- Avoid leading questions
- Example: Instead of ‘Don’t you think our updated website makes it much easier to navigate?’ you could ask ‘Could you describe your experience navigating through the new website?’
- Note: Wording is very important. Try to avoid feeding users with keywords that might confirm your expectations, as it’s human nature to confirm prior statements in an attempt to “get it right”, which defeats the purpose of gathering their objective opinion.
- Test your questions: Before finalizing your questions, it’s a good idea to run it by a small group of others to make sure it’s clear and understandable.
Learn more about user testing methods
User testing encompasses various methodologies, each serving specific purposes and yielding valuable insights. Understanding when and how to use each method effectively is essential for optimizing user experience.
To learn more about each type of testing we recommend, visit the User Research Methods Handbook page.