User Experience Testing: Adapted from the World of Design Prior Year Content

Have you ever entered a room in a new office and started to look for switches? Were you able to switch on the right light on your first attempt? Did you blame yourself for the failure? If you did, you became a victim of false blame, cursing yourself for the poor design of products. Sharing why testers must be aware of the psychology behind product design, Parimala Hariprasad talks about how design concepts—affordances, signifiers, natural mappings, and gulfs of execution—can help you become a better tester. Parimala highlights how designers and testers, working together, lead both to designing explorable systems and helping to build great products that incorporate concepts like immediate feedback and visibility. Key takeaways include learning the basics of design thinking, understanding design case studies, familiarizing yourself with the concept of natural mappings, and applying these lessons to user experience testing.