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User Research & Usability Testing
Usability testing shows you exactly where real people struggle with your product, app, website or form. We combine think-aloud protocols, task-based measurement and expert heuristic review to find and fix problems before they cost you customers.
The problem behind the problem.
Product teams see their own designs through the lens of everything they already know. Labels that seem obvious, workflows that feel logical and error messages that appear clear can all baffle someone encountering them for the first time. Without testing with real users, these problems surface only after launch, as abandoned sessions, support calls and poor reviews. By then, fixing them is slower and more expensive, and some users have already formed a lasting impression.
Many organizations know they should test with users but treat it as optional when deadlines approach. Others run sessions without clear tasks, recruit the wrong participants or report findings as long lists without priorities. Usability testing is most valuable when it is planned around critical tasks, conducted with representative users, analyzed systematically and connected to measures of real behavior after release. A small amount of well-designed testing at the right time prevents large and costly mistakes.
How we deliver user research & usability testing.
- 01Observe
Understand users and their tasks
We start with user research: interviews and contextual inquiry to learn who your users are, what they are trying to accomplish and in what conditions. Task analysis identifies the critical tasks that matter most to users and to the business. This ensures testing focuses on what people actually need to do, not on features internal teams find interesting.
- 02Signal
Find where users struggle in the data
Product analytics, session recordings, search logs and support tickets reveal where users hesitate, repeat steps, make errors or abandon. We combine these signals with an expert heuristic evaluation against established usability principles, such as visibility of system status, error prevention, consistency and recognition over recall, to prioritize what to test.
- 03Design
Plan rigorous test sessions
We design test scripts around realistic scenarios, recruit participants representative of key user types, including people with disabilities where relevant, and define success criteria for each task. Measures include task completion, time on task, errors and standardized usability questionnaires, alongside qualitative observation from think-aloud protocols.
- 04Test
Run sessions and iterate
We moderate sessions in person or remotely, using think-aloud protocols to capture what users expect, notice and misunderstand. Findings are rated by severity and frequency, with clear recommendations. We often run rapid rounds: test, revise and retest, confirming that fixes resolve problems without introducing new ones before engineering commits fully.
- 05Scale
Make testing routine
We help establish a sustainable research cadence, participant panels, templates and a findings repository, and train designers and product managers to run lightweight tests themselves. After launch, we connect usability findings to behavioral metrics so teams can confirm that improvements reduce errors, abandonment and support demand.
Deliverables.
What changes.
Who engages us.
We support product managers, design and UX leaders, digital transformation executives, clinical informatics teams and founders. Clients include software companies, digital health developers, lenders and banks with online applications, universities with student portals, and associations with member platforms. Typical triggers are an upcoming launch or redesign, high abandonment on a key form, rising support volume, accessibility concerns or a new audience such as older adults or clinicians.
Industries
Beyond the balance sheet.
Usable technology is a matter of respect and access. Poor usability excludes older adults, people with disabilities, people with limited literacy and anyone under stress, such as patients navigating a diagnosis. Testing with diverse participants makes products work for more people. Employees benefit when internal tools are tested too, reducing frustration and errors. We include accessibility evaluation in our testing and treat inclusive design as a core requirement.
Frequently asked questions.
What is a think-aloud protocol?
In a think-aloud protocol, participants verbalize their thoughts while completing tasks: what they are looking for, what they expect to happen and what confuses them. This reveals the reasoning behind behavior that analytics alone cannot capture. A trained moderator prompts gently without leading, so participants reveal their natural mental model of the product.
How many participants does a usability test need?
For finding usability problems, small rounds of testing with participants from each key user type are usually effective, especially when testing is repeated iteratively. For measuring usability performance with statistical confidence, such as comparing two designs, larger samples are needed. We recommend the right approach based on whether your goal is discovery or measurement.
What is a heuristic evaluation?
A heuristic evaluation is an expert review of an interface against established usability principles, such as consistency, error prevention, clear feedback and minimizing memory load. It is fast and inexpensive and catches many common problems. However, it does not replace testing with real users, because experts cannot fully predict how people with different backgrounds will behave.
Can usability testing be done remotely?
Yes. Remote moderated sessions work well for most digital products and make it easier to reach geographically diverse or hard-to-recruit participants. Unmoderated remote testing can be useful for quick, focused questions. For physical products, complex environments or certain populations, in-person sessions remain valuable, and we choose the format that best fits the research question.
Often paired with.
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ExploreCustomer Experience Research
Understand why customers act, stay or leave through rigorous interviews, contextual inquiry, diary studies and validated surveys tied to real behavior.
Explore
Ready to talk about user research & usability testing?
Every engagement begins with a conversation. Tell us what you are facing and we will tell you, candidly, how we would approach it.
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