Why Outsourced Usability Testing Can Lead to the Most Insightful Outcomes

From the initial planning phases to the development segment, there are lots of steps involved in designing a website or app. However, you’re not finished unless you’ve carried out usability testing. There are many compelling reasons to outsource usability testing, and taking this approach could help you become significantly more informed about the product or service that’s been created.

Opportunities to Test on More Platforms

You have to remember that a person might be accessing software on a Windows-based computer, an Apple laptop, or even a smartphone or tablet. There are more variables that come into play related to the numerous browsers people use when they access content on computers or handheld gadgets.

Chrome and Firefox are two of the most popular browsers but there are also newer options such as DuckDuckGo, a choice that has become especially well-liked because it doesn’t track users’ internet activities. Your software might function or look different depending on which browser a person uses. That’s why it’s so important to outsource usability testing to a company with many platforms at its disposal.

When communicating with a usability company, you can point out any specific traits your user base has. For example, maybe you carried out a survey last year and found about three-quarters of your customers go on their computers and use Chrome while the remainder of the target audience depends on their built-in Android smartphone browsers. Bringing up those things with your outsourced company gives good guidance about how to carry out testing in ways that fit with known variables.

Outsourced Testers Won’t Worry About Hurting Your Feelings

One factor that generally makes usability testing maximally informative is working with strangers instead of people you know. Individuals who are off-site and not connected to your company at all other than via this testing project are not likely to have biased viewpoints that could skew their findings.

For example, in an effort to save money, you might ask your company’s administrative assistant to test your website. Because she’s been exposed to office chatter, she might have learned your in-house developers struggled to make a certain portion of the software work correctly on a particular browser.

If applicable, she might decide not to disclose that the problem has improved but not gone away. That’s especially likely if she has heard your company’s development team got extremely frustrated about the software issue and they’re under the impression the issue is fully resolved. Because she doesn’t want to be the bearer of bad news, your administrative assistant might just turn a blind eye to the problem.

Deal With People Who Know How to Conduct Usability Testing Effectively

The purpose of usability testing is to get real-world feedback about whether your software functions as intended. If it does not, usability testing can also uncover things like how users are getting confused and what can or should be done to resolve the negative things that are happening.

You might be unsure of how to find people to help with usability testing and just decide to run a classified advertisement that indicates you need individuals to navigate through a website or mobile app in exchange for earning an hourly rate. Although that’s one way to go about things, it probably won’t lead to the results you’d get by working with professional usability testing companies, such as QAwerk.

Because QAwerk specializes in usability testing for mobile-based and desktop software, its employees are well aware of how to test websites thoroughly to uncover potential issues before the software launches to the public. Also, if you are working with people who are not familiar with what usability testing entails, time will probably be wasted as you get individuals acquainted with the software so they can try out the features as needed.

Members of the general public who are engaged in usability testing might also become impatient, especially if the process continues for several hours or even longer. In contrast, people who handle usability testing as a career understand what’s expected and they possess enough patience and willingness to do the job well.

You’ve just learned a few reasons why it’s often better to outsource usability testing instead of doing it within your company’s premises. The things you learn in the process might result in software that’s stronger than you first imagined it could be.