Usability Testing Scores Over Other Types of Testing

The success or failure of any software or product depends on its acceptance by the end users or the customers. The ‘acceptance’ by users may depend on a slew of reasons:

• Easy navigation in case of a website / application or operability in case of a product
• Quick loading in case of a website or an application
• An easy to grasp layout or design
• Good content that appeals to users
• Non requirement of any add on like flash for the software to load

To achieve the above mentioned user criteria, the development team undertakes various Software Testing Services wherein Usability Testing plays an all important role before the ‘system’ is handed over to the client or end customers. 

Usability Testing, as the name suggests, is carried out by the actual users of a software or product in a real test environment to check its functionality, usability, reliability and responsiveness. The users can either be domain experts or laymen, and it is up to the development team to decide beforehand on the type of users. The testers basically observe the behaviour of users on a real time basis (preferably) and encourage users to ‘think out loud’ while using the application. 

As users are generally not very articulate about the problems they face while using the software, the insistence on ‘think out loud’ helps identify problems. If the test session is interactive on a real time basis, it can be termed as synchronous. However, if the users are separated by constraints of distance, time zone, infrastructure or language, their feedback can be collated to be studied later by the test teams. Such interactions are called asynchronous. 

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