Good news for UX students! The core concepts you're learning now will serve you for decades. Just keep an open mind and stay updated with new tech. The key to staying current is simple: hands-on user testing with new technologies.
Love the article and completely agree! After 30+ years in the design world and going from designing in 80 character displays, to windows/desktop, to web and mobile, AR, VR, AI, and beyond, I definitely believe that sticking to the core principles of user experience design will always serve you well. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Focus on user needs, goals and context and leverage/take advantage of what new technology can offer you. Always exciting to get new tools and to see them open up new possibilities.
Personally I think the phrase “user testing” incorporates more than “Usability testing”. Usability testing gives a sense we are only testing the usability aspect, but a test can reflect many things, usability, business value, etc. To me, interpreting “user testing” not as “tests we give to the users”, but as tests where users participate and we observe for research purposes.
Exactly. My understanding of the term is that we are testing with users (i.e, that the users are testing the design), which is the differentiator between this type of testing and other forms of testing.
Love the article and completely agree! After 30+ years in the design world and going from designing in 80 character displays, to windows/desktop, to web and mobile, AR, VR, AI, and beyond, I definitely believe that sticking to the core principles of user experience design will always serve you well. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Focus on user needs, goals and context and leverage/take advantage of what new technology can offer you. Always exciting to get new tools and to see them open up new possibilities.
Personally I think the phrase “user testing” incorporates more than “Usability testing”. Usability testing gives a sense we are only testing the usability aspect, but a test can reflect many things, usability, business value, etc. To me, interpreting “user testing” not as “tests we give to the users”, but as tests where users participate and we observe for research purposes.
Exactly. My understanding of the term is that we are testing with users (i.e, that the users are testing the design), which is the differentiator between this type of testing and other forms of testing.
Hi Jakob,
Cheers for sharing more insight!
I'm surprised you use "user testing" in lieu of "usability testing" in your writings.
Brian
I appreciate the Yogi Berra quote!
Why revert back to calling it "user testing" vs continue on with "usability testing"? We are still testing the usability, not the users.