Usability testing can be a really easy thing to do. You can do almost anything wrong – as long as you get your tasks right, your usability testing will always work. Here you'll find 5 example task that can provide new and different insights than the standard usability tasks. Feel free to use them during your next tests and share your insights in the comments. Happy testing. :)

1. 5 USABILITY TASKS YOU
HAVEN'T TRIED SO FAR.
USABILITY TESTING

2. USABILITY TESTING CAN
BE A REALLY EASY THING
TO DO. YOU CAN DO
ALMOST ANYTHING
WRONG – AS LONG AS
YOU GET YOUR TASKS
RIGHT
Stefan Rössler - Userbrain

3. 5 USABILITY TASKS YOU HAVEN’T TRIED SO FAR
ABOUT ME
Markus Pirker
Co-Founder of Remote Usability
Service Userbrain and UX Agency
Simplease. Beer aficionado.
Drop me a line at @gabelfisch

4. 6 USABILITY TASKS YOU HAVEN'T TRIED SO FAR BUT REALLY SHOULD
3 COMMON MISTAKES WITH USABILITY TASKS
▸ Don’t tell people what your site is for. Try to let them
articulate their first-impression, and see if they understand
the purpose of your site without explanation.
▸ Don’t ask your testers for their opinion you simply won’t
get meaningful results
▸ Don’t use words in your task that can be found in the
interface of your site.

5. DON’T ASK FOR OPINIONS,
OBSERVE BEHAVIOR.
Tomer Sharon
USABILITY TESTING IS NOT MARKET RESEARCH

6. THE SELF GENERATED TASK
TASK № 1

7. 6 USABILITY TASKS YOU HAVEN’T TRIED SO FAR
THE SELF GENERATED TASK
▸ You ask the participant to come up with a task, that is realistic to
him or her while having a look at your site.
▸ Task: (Before the site is shown) You just visit a site for [General
Topic of your site]. What would you expect to do on such a site?
Please go on and do this now.
▸ What you’ll learn:
– New routes people would take on your site if they had to use it
the first time.
– Goals and motivations of your users you maybe haven’t ever
thought about.

8. THE GOOGLE TASK
TASK № 2

9. 6 USABILITY TASKS YOU HAVEN’T TRIED SO FAR
THE GOOGLE TASK
▸ People start looking for your product or service on Google and
comment on the quality of the search results.
▸ Task: Starting at Google find three sites you’ll come back to later to
book a cheap flight to Paris. Don’t spend too long on any one site.
As you do this explain why you are choosing one over another.
▸ What you’ll learn:
– Which words they use to describe your product or service if they
had to search online for it.
– How they evaluate the search results in terms of relevance and
importance.

10. THE COMPETITOR TASK
TASK № 3

11. 6 USABILITY TASKS YOU HAVEN’T TRIED SO FAR
THE COMPETITOR TASK
▸ The participants start performing a task on your and a competitors site and
compare their experience.
▸ Task: You want to find an affordable hotel for your trip to Venice next month.
Go on and do this task till you reach the final step of the checkout [First SITE 1
is shown, then same task on SITE 2]
How would you compare your experience on this two sites? Which site would
you prefer if you had to find a hotel in Venice for real? Why?
▸ What you’ll learn:
– How your competitors are solving the same problems as your are.
– What are the strengths and weaknesses of your site compared to your
competitors.

12. THE REVISED TASK
TASK № 4

13. 6 USABILITY TASKS YOU HAVEN’T TRIED SO FAR
THE REVISED TASK
▸ You show the participant your task and ask him or her to
revise it so that’s more relevant.
▸ Task: Which actions would you perform on a site like this?
Go ahead and try to do whatever you think someone could
do on this site.
What you’ll learn:
– Which things on your site are relevant to the participant.
– If your task is clear or needs some revision.

14. THE NAVIGATION TASK
TASK № 5

15. 6 USABILITY TASKS YOU HAVEN’T TRIED SO FAR
THE NAVIGATION TASK
▸ You ask the participant to read through the Top Level Navigation on your site and
explain which items they would expect there - without clicking anything.
▸ Task: Read through the navigation of this site. Please don’t click on anything yet.
Which things would you expect to see when clicking the titles?
Now click on the first element in the navigation bar. Would you have expected the
elements shown? Why or why not?
▸ What you’ll learn:
– If the category names accurately convey content?
– If the content titles are distinguishable from one another?
- If the way you’re structuring and sorting your matches the mental model of your
participants.

16. HAPPY TESTING.
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