How To Test Your App Before Release
First impressions are always important. If someone gives off a bad vibe when you see them for the first time, you’ll probably keep a mental note of it. The same goes for user experience. If the first users have a negative experience with your app, good luck getting referrals, shares, or positive reviews. You need to make sure everything is pristine, ready, and polished by the time you launch your app. That’s why you need to test before releasing.
Testing does a few more things:
– It helps you solve bugs.
– It gives insight into what users like and dislike.
– It validates claims and assumptions about the app (or negates them).
– It helps you launch perfectly.
Everyone makes an app for one of two reasons: to make money or to attract users. It’s that simple. To achieve both of those things, the app needs to work first.
Here are some questions that testing will help you answer:
– Is this the solution your users were looking for?
– If the user achieves their goal, are they happy or frustrated at the end?
– Are users getting the maximum value out of your app?
– How good is the user experience (is it friendly or does it need improvement)?
– Is the user using the app like you intended?
Now, let’s dive into how you can successfully test your app before releasing it.
-
Plan and prepare
A motivational speaker, Brian Tracy, has a famous quote – “Every minute you spend in planning saves ten minutes in execution.” And he’s right (that’s why he was the COO of a 265 million dollar company). Every activity needs to start with a plan, and you should have a defined structure:
– What is your ideal user persona?
– What is the purpose of the test?
– Which method will you use to design the test?
– Which tasks do users need to complete?
– Will someone facilitate the test?
– What sort of data will you collect?
After you do this, it’s time to move on to the next step.
-
Define the right goals
You won’t do just one test before you release an app. You’ll do multiple. Every process has stages, and you have to approach them by defining the right goals.
Let’s say you just have an idea about a new app. The first thing you need to do is see what kind of problems your ideal users have. Then, you need to ask around and check their existing solutions. After you collect substantial info, you can focus on the pain points they need more help with or identify a problem that’s not getting solved. Then, you move on to the building.
-
Build a prototype (or an MVP)
As soon as you have a working prototype (minimum viable product, MVP), you can ask test users to complete specific tasks. You’ll be surprised how users may use your app. What seems natural and logical to you might be the complete opposite for them.
Here’s an example. Let’s say you’re creating a restaurant app. It needs to have functionality when it comes to looking at the menu, booking a reservation, ordering online, and leaving a review. All of these functionalities need to be working so you can conduct the test.
-
Remote or In-Person testing?
There are two types of app testing – in-person and remote. Both have benefits and drawbacks.
If you opt for in-person testing, you must bring people into your office and set up a good environment. The significant benefit is that you can create real connections and read their body language when something seems off. The drawback is that it’s super time-consuming. Another drawback is that you can’t make geolocation tests in-house unless you get VPN deals and allow your users to connect to the required country.
Remote testing usually happens when you don’t have a large budget and want to move quickly. Since you can’t look at body language, you have to rely on the information a user is giving you. The major benefit is that you can test how your app works in different countries.
You can choose whether the session will be moderated or unmoderated in both cases. In moderated sessions, you can ask and answer questions in real time. A moderator will be present, and they can lead the conversation. There’s no way to troubleshoot issues, explain things to participants, or communicate tech issues in unmoderated sessions. Unmoderated sessions come with less insights, but they bring in a new environment context.
-
Select who will be part of the test
If you post an ad for your test session, you’ll probably be surprised how many people apply. But finding the suitable testers is a hassle. You need to ensure a couple of things:
– Participants need to be close to your ideal user persona.
– They need to have a device with the right operating system.
– They need to be at the right place and time.
– They must agree to the compensation (if the test is paid).
– They need to sign a consent form.
-
Do the test
When the time for the test comes, introduce yourself, walk through the entire process, and let the users ask questions and use the app. Don’t say how long it takes to complete each task so that they ask questions more keenly. If you hear something meaningful, write notes and encourage them to give suggestions. Most people are not good at giving feedback, so you might need to share a few examples or ask the right questions.
-
Analyze and repeat
Once everything is complete, you need to collect all the data and start analyzing it. You’ll probably have a bunch of new insights in your head already, but it’s important to quantify it. See what most people agreed on. See what they didn’t like and improve or remove it. Testing is a helpful process that is easy to set up once you get the hang of it and will give you loads of benefits. Happy testing!