Published on <a href="http://ift.tt/2rpmNfe">| Prototyping: From UX to Front End &mdash; Medium</a> David Atkinson 
For a lot of people, the notion of ‘user testing’ can conjure up images of clinical lab sessions where participants awkwardly click through prototypes while a man with a clipboard takes notes. It’s also common to be met with resistance for it being too expensive and too time-consuming. But it doesn’t need to be this way. You can leave the office, today, right this minute, show people something you are working on and get really valuable and useful feedback.
Guerrilla testing, is the act of picking up your prototypes or sketches, heading to the nearest public place and asking people to give it a try for 5 minutes, in return for a small reward of course. This isn’t for in-depth usability analysis, rather, from a high-level, it helps you to understand: Do people understand what is it, what it’s for, who it’s for and what you can do with it. Most importantly you can quickly know — does this product solve a problem for people.
<h4>How’s it done?</h4>
<ul>
<li>Decide a clear hypothesis to test, and agree specifically what you want to learn as and why. Think about what decisions you want to make with the results</li>
<li>Pick somewhere you think will be open to you setting up shop for a couple of hours (independent coffee places work well, but anywhere public is fine!)</li>
<li>Explain to the staff what it is you are up to, and reassure them you won’t be pestering anyone. If they aren’t up for it, that’s ok.</li>
<li>It can help to make a little sign — we made this:</li>
</ul>
<img alt="" src="http://ift.tt/2sqNZdx.">
<ul>
<li>Look approachable and let them come to you, dress informally, you don’t want to look like you’re selling anything</li>
<li>When someone shows some intrigue, ask them for no more that 5 minutes to check out a new product you are working on in return for a small incentive (a coffee usually does the trick) And do keep your promise to make it no more than 5 minutes!</li>
</ul>
While it can be very nerve-wracking the first time, you’ll be surprised (in a good way) how many people don’t immediately think you are running an elaborate app-based scam and are willing to help out.
I have a set of basic questions which help get the conversation going once they are sat in front of the product:
<ul>
<li>What do you think it is?</li>
<li>What do you think you can do with it?</li>
<li>Who do you think it’s for?</li>
<li>What do you like about it?</li>
<li>What do you dislike about it?</li>
</ul>
Remember, no leading questions! While it can be hard to sit in relative silence while someone chats their way through their first interaction with your product, the more vague you can be the better, this is about getting real feedback based on first impressions.
You’ll usually get 2 or 3 points from each person in the 5 minutes, make notes as soon as you can, 10 minutes later they will have drifted away and you’ll start drawing your own conclusions about what it was they said.
You’ll likely hear from you colleagues and stakeholders ‘surely you can’t learn, or draw conclusions, from 6 people’ But the truth is, you don’t need to speak with loads of users. You’ll find once you have spoken with around 6–7 people that trends will have become clear and you’ll start to hear the same points coming up again and again. Nielsen Norman Group have a <a href="http://ift.tt/1k9B8DI">great write up</a> of this, and the diminishing gains from speaking to more than 5 users.
<h4>What next?</h4>
When you are finished, write up your findings! This shouldn’t be a PHD thesis, but a few key points, trends and quotes from the people you spoke to.
Don’t forget to share your findings with your team and your stakeholders, it helps anyone working on the product to really buy into what you are creating together, get them closer to the customer and help them understand why you are making certain decisions, and prioritising some things over others.
<h4>Some other benefits</h4>
If you are fortunate enough to be based somewhere exciting new tech companies are rife, it’s amazing the people you meet when taking your ideas out into the world. In a 2 hour morning session at a London coffee shop I met 2 employees of a VC firm, a UX designer (be careful with these folks though, as they can have a more expert opinion!) and a developer; all giving useful feedback and all good people to know. For an early stage business these connections are invaluable and time spent playing with the product can turn a curious bystander into your next employee, or source of funding.
But it goes beyond feedback and making new buddies. The merits of spending time working away from your desk are far reaching, and amongst the benefits of not having to deal with company politics &amp; distractions, product people who work out in a public place, testing ideas and getting fast feedback will soon realise many of the biases and opinions held within the office walls are no longer restricting your thinking. So give it a try! you’ll come away with a fresh perspective and plenty of new ideas to make your product better.
If you liked this, click 💚 below so other people see this on Medium, thanks!
<img src="http://ift.tt/2sqJArb" width="1" height="1" alt="stat?event=post.clientViewed&amp;referrerSou">
<hr>
<a href="http://ift.tt/2t0obSL">The importance of leaving the building</a> was originally published in <a href="http://ift.tt/2cAqCpx">Prototyping: From UX to Front End</a> on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The importance of leaving the building

Top Stories