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Tutorial 17: Plan Your Usability Test

Hands-on guide to preparing and running a usability test session

Overview

This tutorial walks you through planning a usability test for one of your flows. You'll define tasks, recruit participants, run a session, and document findings.

Time: 30 minutes for planning, 20 minutes per test session Prerequisites: A working prototype (Module 14) or delivered implementation (Module 16) Agent: Freya What you'll create: Test plan, observation notes, and findings document

Before You Start

You'll need:

A working prototype or implementation of one flow
Access to 1-3 people who roughly match your personas
A way to record (phone camera, screen recording, or video call)

Freya will help you:

Define good test tasks
Prepare the session structure
Analyze findings afterward
Connect findings to specs and trigger maps

Step 1: Choose the Flow (5 min)

Pick one flow to test. Not the whole product — one flow.

Good choices:

The primary user journey (signup, onboarding, first action)
A flow you're uncertain about
A flow with many interaction steps

You say to Freya:

"I want to plan a usability test for the user registration flow. Help me define test tasks."

Freya responds:

"Good choice — registration is the first impression. Let's define tasks that test the complete journey without leading the participant."

Step 2: Define Tasks (5 min)

Write 3-5 tasks. Each task should:

Describe a goal, not a path
Be something a real user would actually need to do
Be completable in 2-5 minutes

Freya suggests:

## Test Tasks: User Registration Flow

### Task 1: Create an account
"You've heard about [product name] and want to try it.
Go ahead and create an account."

### Task 2: Understand what you signed up for
"You just created your account. What can you do now?
Take a look around."

### Task 3: Find your account settings
"You want to change your email notification preferences.
See if you can find where to do that."

Review the tasks. Are they realistic? Do they avoid leading the user? Adjust if needed.

Step 3: Prepare the Session (5 min)

Create a session template:

# Usability Test Session

## Flow: User Registration
## Date: [Date]
## Participant: [Name or P1, P2, etc.]
## Location: [Their home / office / remote]
## Recording: [Yes/No, method]

## Introduction Script
"Thanks for helping me test this. I'm testing the design,
not you — there are no wrong answers. Please think out loud
as you go. I won't be able to help during the tasks."

## Tasks
1. Create an account
2. Understand what you signed up for
3. Find account settings

## Observation Notes
[To be filled during session]

## Post-Session Questions
- What stood out to you?
- Was anything confusing or unexpected?
- If you could change one thing, what would it be?

Recruit participants:

Send a message to 3-5 people:

"Hi! I'm working on a product and would love 20 minutes of your time to try it out. No preparation needed — just use it and tell me what you think. Available this week?"

Step 4: Run the Session (20 min per participant)

Start recording.

Read the introduction script.

Give Task 1. Observe silently.

Take notes:

## Observation Notes — P1

### Task 1: Create an account
- 0:00 — Looks at the page, scrolls down
- 0:12 — Scrolls back up, looking for something
- 0:18 — "Where do I sign up?"
- 0:23 — Finds button, clicks it
- 0:35 — Fills in email quickly
- 0:42 — Pauses at password field, reads helper text
- 0:55 — Submits form
- 1:02 — "Oh, it worked. That was easy."
- Completed: Yes
- Time: 1:02
- Issues: Didn't see CTA immediately (18 seconds searching)

Give Task 2. Observe.

Give Task 3. Observe.

Ask post-session questions. Note answers.

Stop recording. Thank them.

Step 5: Review and Analyze (15 min)

Watch the recording

After all sessions are done, review the recordings. Look for patterns.

You say to Freya:

"I tested the registration flow with 3 participants. Here are my observation notes. Help me identify patterns and create findings."

Freya analyzes:

"Pattern 1: All three participants took 15-20 seconds to find the registration button. This is a critical visibility issue — the CTA is below the fold."

"Pattern 2: Two participants hesitated at the password field. They weren't sure about the requirements. The helper text says '8+ characters' but they expected to see the full requirements before typing."

"Participant 3 completed everything smoothly — they match the tech-savvy persona. The issues appear persona-specific: less tech-comfortable users struggled more."

Step 6: Document Findings (10 min)

Create the findings document:

# Usability Findings: User Registration Flow
## Test Date: 2026-02-15
## Participants: 3
## Method: Contextual think-aloud

## Finding 1: Registration CTA not visible
**Severity:** Critical
**Observed in:** 3 of 3 participants
**Task:** Create an account
**Timestamps:** P1 0:18, P2 0:22, P3 0:08

### What happened
All participants scrolled or searched before finding the
registration button. Average time to find: 16 seconds.

### Root cause
P01 landing page: CTA is below the hero image.
Visual hierarchy prioritizes imagery over action.

### Recommendation
Move CTA into hero section. Update spec P01 section 3.

---

## Finding 2: Password requirements unclear
**Severity:** Major
**Observed in:** 2 of 3 participants
**Task:** Create an account
**Timestamps:** P1 0:42, P2 0:38

### What happened
Users paused at password field. Helper text says "8+ characters"
but users expected to see full requirements (uppercase, number, etc.)
before typing.

### Root cause
P02 signup form: Helper text is minimal. Requirements only
appear as error messages after the user types a password
that doesn't meet them.

### Recommendation
Show full password requirements below the field from the start.
Update spec P02 section 4.

---

## Summary
- 1 critical finding (CTA visibility)
- 1 major finding (password clarity)
- 0 minor findings
- Next step: Update specs, rebuild, test again

Step 7: Update Specs and Plan Next Round (5 min)

Update specifications:

Based on findings, update the relevant page specs. Document what changed and why.

Plan the next test:

"After rebuilding with these changes, I'll test again with 3 new participants to verify the fixes work."

What You've Created

Test plan with defined tasks and session structure
Observation notes from real user sessions
Findings document with severity, evidence, and recommendations
Spec updates based on evidence, not opinion
Plan for next round of testing

Tips for Success

DO:

Test on the user's own device in their own environment
Record every session
Observe silently during tasks
Process findings the same day
Connect findings to specs and personas

DON'T:

Help the user when they struggle
Test with people who've seen the design before
Skip the recording
Wait a week to process findings (you'll forget details)
Change the design based on one user's opinion

You've Completed Module 17!

You can now plan and run usability tests. You've learned to:

Define tasks that reveal real usability issues
Observe without guiding
Record and review sessions
Document findings with evidence
Connect findings back to specifications
Plan iterative test rounds

Next Module

Module 18: Product Evolution →

Products don't end at launch. Learn how to evolve them.

← Back to Lesson 3 | Back to Module Overview

Part of Module 17: Usability Testing

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