Remote Usability Test vs Usability Test — What’s the real difference?

Techved
5 min readNov 25, 2020

Have you ever wondered what the difference is between Remote Usability Test and Usability Test? There is just one word more to Usability Test but it makes a huge difference. Many people get confused between the two. They think it’s the same, but it is not.

Let’s get a deeper understanding of this, but before that let’s talk about Usability Testing, it’s essential to first understand what we are referring to when we say usability.

When a new user first interacts with a product, he or she has a goal in mind — in fact, the only reason they are there is that they want to achieve something and the product they have chosen offers a way to achieve it. Usability describes the level of ease with which a system allows a user to get to that goal.

Following are the two-story examples:

Example 1:

Picture a grocery start-up. Their product allows people to buy groceries online from their smartphones or computers, then receive their particular order wherever they are.

A new user was probably drawn to open the start-up’s app because of marketing efforts. The main purpose or value of using a simple application to order groceries was promoted to them so therefore, the user is expecting to be able to order groceries very easily.

The journey starts from the moment the app icon is tapped and concludes the moment the grocery actually arrives.

Determining the grocery delivery app’s usability means finding out how easy is it for the user to place and get their order. We are talking about the total level of activity or action involved in that process.

If the product — or in this case, the app has a very confusing and hard to negotiate user interfaces, over — complex task flows, poor error messages or bad performance, for example, there will be a lot of friction and the result will be that the user will take a lot of time to achieve his goal that is to buy the grocery online and will be unlikely to access the application again.

Long story short — This is poor usability.

Example 2:

On the other hand, if the contrary happens and there is a good and well-crafted user interface, straight-to-the-point task flows with good error messages, and good performance, then the user will get to their goal with less problem easier and faster.

Long story short — This is great usability.

So that is one of the reasons why people, organizations, or any big company for the best usability of its application, product, website, etc. prefer to go for a Usability Test.

Do you know what is face-to-face testing i.e Usability Test?

Usability Testing is a method used to evaluate how easy a website is to use. That means the test takes place with real users where the expert measures how ‘usable’ or ‘intuitive’ a website is and how easy it is for users to reach their goals. Like the example given above.

Users are asked to complete tasks, while they are being observed by a researcher or an expert, to see where they encounter problems and experience confusion. If more people encounter similar problems, recommendations will be made to overcome those usability issues.

So basically, Usability Testing is a way to see how easy to use something is by testing it with real users.

What is Remote Usability Test?

Remote Usability Tests is the next version of Usability Test. It’s almost like Usability Testing but with one key difference.

That one key difference is that the participant and facilitator are in two different physical locations. Rather than the usability expert, moderator going to a participant’s location or vice versa (which happens in usability testing) the participant interacts with the design in his own home, office, or other location, and the expert watches remotely i.e virtually.

When should I use this method?

- Remote Usability Testing allows you to get customer insights when travel budgets are small, time-frames are tight, or test participants are hard to find.

– If you need very quick results.

– Your budget is too small for face-to-face testing sessions.

– If you just need to test a small aspect of your UI, something that can be explored in 15 minutes.

– You aren’t researching difficult, complex flows or sensitive issues.

– You’re main focus is on identifying easy to find usability issues and not deeper problems, insights, or psychological barriers to conversion.

– When your UI is higher fidelity.

How Is Usability Testing Performed?

1. Defining Goals

2. Recruiting

3. Defining Tasks

4. Running The Tests

5. Reporting And Fixes

1. Defining Goals:

Before you start the testing, clearly define the goals. Why are you conducting these tests in the first place? What motivated your organization or team to do this, and what are you looking to achieve? What will define a successful test for you? Understanding and clearly stating the foundation is absolutely essential.

2. Recruiting:

As I’ve mentioned previously, the best way to test your product’s usability is to test it with real users that have had no part in the design or development process. Therefore, actually recruiting those users is a crucial step. Here, it is vitally important to remember that whoever is testing your product should fit your target audience. If you are building something, it’s not useful to have junior engineers testing it. Sometimes, it’s a challenge to recruit but it is a key step.

3. Defining Tasks:

Defining good task scenarios is a subject in itself, and it is an essential one. Poorly written tasks can make your testing inefficient, but well-written ones will help you to achieve the best results.

4. Running The Tests:

To actually conduct the testings, you will want to have the users using either the same or a similar device like the one they use in the real world. Appoint an interviewer who will ask them to perform the task scenarios while taking detailed notes. This step varies a lot from company to company because you might have fully remote testings in one session and research labs being used in another.

5. Reporting And Fixes:

After you’ve finished conducting the tests, revisit the interviewer’s notes, and re-watch each test several times. Summarize the findings in a concise way, usually pointing to what you discover were the main pain points, and note what the user’s reaction and behavior were. Successfully written reports about the tests conducted will allow your team to work on the findings to improve the product.

Closing Thoughts

Overall, this is the Usability Testing process. Again, it varies from organization to organization and product to product, but in general, this should give you a good idea.

To wrap it up and to reiterate, testing your solution with actual users is the most effective way of identifying where your main usability problems are.

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