oredev 2014 knjohnson: ux & software testing
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UX & Software Testing: finding ways to work togetherTRANSCRIPT
A VENN DIAGRAM OF UX & SOFTWARE TESTING Karen N. Johnson Oredev 2014
The team needs to build a product. The team readily recognizes the testers need to work
with the developers but the same team often doesn’t consider that the testers also need to
work with the UX staff. Often the UX staff is tucked away in a different part of the office,
working with multiple teams and yet, rarely working directly with the testers. Why? How
can testers review a product without a good understanding of the design? Testers need
closer access to UX and UX would benefit from working directly with the testers. Karen
highlights specific design areas where UX and testing pair well.
About this talk …
Oredev - UX & Software Testing © Karen N. Johnson 2014
• Software Test Consultant • Published Author (Beautiful Testing) • Co-founder of WREST: Workshop on Regulated Software Testing • Website: www.karennicolejohnson.com or www.karennjohnson.com • Twitter: @karennjohnson
Karen N. Johnson
Oredev - UX & Software Testing © Karen N. Johnson 2014
So what’s a Venn diagram???
Oredev - UX & Software Testing © Karen N. Johnson 2014
A/B Testing A/B testing refers to a marketing experiment when two options are offered. An example is two versions of a web page to see which page results in more successful progression, successful typically is referring to customers progressing to the next step in a sales progression of an ecommerce site.
Oredev - UX & Software Testing © Karen N. Johnson 2014
A/B Testing from UX perspective
¨ Look and feel ¨ Control test ¨ Funnel optimization ¨ Increased sales
Oredev - UX & Software Testing © Karen N. Johnson 2014
A/B Testing from Software Testing perspective
¨ Don’t break the flow ¨ Test paths ¨ Work with UX to build
accounts to control and test the paths.
Oredev - UX & Software Testing © Karen N. Johnson 2014
Oredev - UX & Software Testing © Karen N. Johnson 2014
UX Page design Market feedback Conversion improvement
Testing
A/B split handled
Both “paths” Don’t break overall flow
Look & Feel Nav Process flow
A/B “Testing” with UX & Testing
Multivariate testing Multivariate testing is a technique for testing changes to many different elements all at the same time on one web page.
Oredev - UX & Software Testing © Karen N. Johnson 2014
Funnel Optimization ¨ Conversion rate is a common
metric for gauging customers taking the next step.
¨ UX may design with funnel optimization in mind but testing does not typically approach a product from this mindset.
Oredev - UX & Software Testing © Karen N. Johnson 2014
Storyboarding
Oredev - UX & Software Testing © Karen N. Johnson 2014
The premise … that UX and Test can benefit by
storyboarding together.
storyboarding
Oredev - UX & Software Testing © Karen N. Johnson 2014
A storyboard visually
tells the story
panel by panel.
Oredev - UX & Software Testing © Karen N. Johnson 2014
UX designers use storyboarding.
Designers focus on the flow
of a feature story.
Oredev - UX & Software Testing © Karen N. Johnson 2014
Oredev - UX & Software Testing © Karen N. Johnson 2014
Testers focus on where and how a story can breakdown.
Oredev - UX & Software Testing © Karen N. Johnson 2014
Oredev - UX & Software Testing © Karen N. Johnson 2014
Let’s try another example. Let’s try this one together.
Oredev - UX & Software Testing © Karen N. Johnson 2014
Oredev - UX & Software Testing © Karen N. Johnson 2014
But if you only learn one question to ask, let the question be …
What if?
Oredev - UX & Software Testing © Karen N. Johnson 2014
• What if? Is a challenge question.
• What if? Is the type of question that begs for investigation and
discovery.
• What if? Does not require technical training or knowledge.
Oredev - UX & Software Testing © Karen N. Johnson 2014
When UX & Test collaborate on storyboarding,
together they can think through a process flow
and also consider how the process can break.
The result: Risks revealed. Testing understood.
Stronger design built. More complete testing.
Oredev - UX & Software Testing © Karen N. Johnson 2014
State Transitions
Oredev - UX & Software Testing © Karen N. Johnson 2014
State transition when defined in
academic terms can be long and
(frankly) dull.
A shorter more practical explanation is:
identify states and the events that
trigger the transition.
Oredev - UX & Software Testing © Karen N. Johnson 2014
Let’s go back to the ecommerce
shopping cart flow and see
where the state transitions
occur.
Oredev - UX & Software Testing © Karen N. Johnson 2014
Oredev - UX & Software Testing © Karen N. Johnson 2014
“State transitions provide a
Bermuda-Triangle-like moment in time
where “things” can go wrong for a user
or system. And once a user or system
is in a bad state, they can be awkwardly
trapped or lost.”
Oredev - UX & Software Testing © Karen N. Johnson 2014
When UX & Test map state transitions in a
process, it becomes visible where points of
vulnerability lie. These potential problem spots
need design and test considerations.
Oredev - UX & Software Testing © Karen N. Johnson 2014
Using personas
Oredev - UX & Software Testing © Karen N. Johnson 2014
The premise … that UX and Test can work these
two concepts together to arrive to a better end.
personas & tours
Oredev - UX & Software Testing © Karen N. Johnson 2014
The concept of using a
more precise model helps
to envision designing a
product for someone, not
just for a “user.”
UX designers use the persona concept
Oredev - UX & Software Testing © Karen N. Johnson 2014
The tour concept represent specific, focused testing advice that guides the tester through paths of the software. The tours help a tester think through inputs, data and environment settings that satisfy the goals of the tour. It's a more methodical and purposeful way to test.
Exploratory testers use the tour concept
Oredev - UX & Software Testing © Karen N. Johnson 2014
Exploratory testing & the tour concept
James Whittaker
At Microsoft a group of us test folk from around the division and around the company are experimenting with tour-guided testing. We have the Supermodel Tour in which all we do is window shop … look at the interface and find superficial (no intended disrespect to any actual supermodel who might be reading this blog) bugs. We have the Money Tour where we watch salespeople demo the product and create variations of those demos as test cases. We have the Intellectual Tour where we ask the software hard questions. We have the Garbage Collector’s Tour, the Competitor’s Tour, the Museum Tour, the After Hours Tour and a host more that we are experimenting with. All of these tours represent specific, focused testing advice that guides the tester through paths of the software. The tours help a tester think through inputs, data and environment settings that satisfy the goals of the tour. It's a more methodical and purposeful way to test.
Source: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/james_whittaker/archive/2009/04/06/tour-of-the-month-the-landmark-tour.aspx
Oredev - UX & Software Testing © Karen N. Johnson 2014
Persona + Context + Exploratory Testing + Tours
Oredev - UX & Software Testing © Karen N. Johnson 2014
Imagine a persona combined with a context (such as a mobile banking) app combined with a “money” exploratory testing tour.
Oredev - UX & Software Testing © Karen N. Johnson 2014
If we design by persona,
why not test by persona?
When UX & Test collaborate on personas and
exploratory tour testing together, they can both
think through not just from a user perspective but
through a model. This combination can help
clarify design needs as well as streamline testing.
Oredev - UX & Software Testing © Karen N. Johnson 2014
Oredev - UX & Software Testing © Karen N. Johnson 2014
Accessibility: Consider an accessibility persona Browsers: Be fluent in browser settings and coach your UX designers Review browser stats on an intermittent basis with your UX designer Mobile: Review stats Watch app feedback and help loop feedback into design
Oredev - UX & Software Testing © Karen N. Johnson 2014
Testers can: • Give feedback on look & feel • Share our test lab & devices • Test with different resolutions, browsers, devices. • Learn UX language for better collaboration. • Test by persona. • Highlight error and boundary conditions where design is needed. • A/B testing (and multivariate testing) offer new forms of “white box testing.”
Oredev - UX & Software Testing © Karen N. Johnson 2014
UX can: • Be open to feedback on look & feel • Share design strategy • Highlight concerns with different resolutions, browsers, devices. • Learn testing language for better collaboration. • Suggest testing by persona. • Ask testers to explore error and boundary conditions to ensure design “holds up” to expectations. • Highlight where A/B testing (and multivariate) testing is setup so testers can explore.
Email: [email protected] Twitter: @karennjohnson
Karen N. Johnson
Oredev - UX & Software Testing © Karen N. Johnson 2014