For mobile app development enthusiasts, investing in a usability test can be a huge factor in the successful launch of an app. A usability test is performed on mobile products to gain insights into the experience of the end-users with those products.
Benefits of Mobile Usability Testing
From understanding your product better, detecting loopholes, receiving neutral feedback to escalating sales, here are some great benefits of mobile usability testing:
- Understanding the user’s in-app behavior: To make your app launch a success, it is imperative to understand where your product stands. What better way to do it than to slip into the end-users shoes? Usability testing provides a great opportunity to observe the user’s interactions with your app in real-time and receive constructive feedback as well.
- Identifying bugs, and other non-functioning parts of the app: Even stellar mobile apps can come with issues like an unclear piece of microcopy or a server error. Mobile usability testing makes it easy to identify and rectify them beforehand.
- Saving on development costs: Mobile usability testing can identify the most striking features of your app that the users would love to use, thus letting you focus all your efforts on developing them. This not only results in saved development costs but also puts you ahead of your competitors.
- Getting repeat customers: Mobile usability testing also helps in improving customer retention rates. By understanding the user behavior and usage patterns, you can easily alter the app features to cater to the specific needs of your target audience. Remember, a happy customer is a repeat customer!
- Creating outstanding UX, along with a great CX by offering in-app sales: By gauging the results of a usability test, you can develop a seamless user interface. Best of all, you can also take the customer service to a new level by offering in-app purchases and observing how the end-users respond.
Now that we have learned the benefits of conducting a usability test for your mobile apps, let us now discuss the five most popular tools available for conducting this test.
The Top 5 Mobile Usability Testing Tools
One of the top influencers on the web and co-founder of NP Digital and Subscribers, Neil Patel outlines the top tools for mobile usability testing on his blog. These tools will make your usability testing go seamlessly:
1. Swrve
It is a full suite app marketing package that comes equipped with powerful A/B testing features. This is a perfect usability testing tool that can track your user’s activities, modify their experience and engage them in a relevant manner.
An unlimited number of participants can take this test and it allows you to build target groups based on demographics and other criteria. This tool works by implementing the following:
User Segmentation: It separates the users with behavior similarities into specific groups to ensure all push notifications, in-app messaging campaigns, and A/B tests are directed to the correct target audience. It also helps in delivering a customized user experience.
Relationship Building: To build long-lasting relationships with your app users, Swrve provides campaigns including in-app messaging, push notifications, Resource A/B testing, and in-app conversations complete with text, images, videos, surveys, and rich button actions to create a customizable experience for the end-users.
Measurement of Success: Swrve comes equipped with reporting and analytic tools that help with analyzing app data. Not only can you view reports, but information on KPIs (key performance indicators), segments, and events can also be retrieved.
Measuring KPIs: Calculating the KPIs is a piece of cake with the Swrve platform. By analyzing users and their behaviors, you can easily pinpoint the base metrics that have room for improvement and figure out who your real target audience should be.
2. Loop 11
When it comes to conducting remote usability testing, this tool tops the charts. The users are invited via social media to collaborate and perform tasks and the best part is a report that is generated at the end of each testing session.
The report provides stats including task completion rates, the strong and weak points of the app, time spent per task, and common navigation paths to name a few.
3. UserZoom
What sets this tool apart is the option to test the participants in their natural environment. In simple terms, the facial expressions of the users are tracked in parallel to them testing each feature of the app. Also, the time spent by users on each task is considered, making this tool a perfect go-to platform for conducting mobile usability testing.
The idea behind this tool is to get rid of the traditional usability tests that are conducted with the help of cue cards which can sometimes provide altered results.
4. Applause
This exceptional and fully-managed tool offers expert consultation to app owners.
Applause’s experienced staff guides in vetting the best participants for conducting mobile usability testing, surveys, and audits along with mock surveys and questionnaires. The company also allocates a UX researcher that collaborates with teams to create effective scripts for gathering valuable insights.
5. LiveSession
If you are looking to analyze and optimize user experience then this is the tool for you. This tool not only provides session replays but also offers recordings of the conducted usability tests. The recorded sessions and replays go a long way in understanding the small issues with your apps that would otherwise go unnoticed.
You also get a better picture of how well the users are interacting with your app, making this tool a perfect aid for improving the overall UX experience, and eliminating errors and bugs from your app.
Save Future Headaches – Test Before Launch
Just like physical products, digital products especially mobile apps should go through rigorous testing before the launch date. Early-stage usability testing not only saves resources but mitigates risks and encourages you to make informed decisions based on real usage data.
If you are looking to boost sales, increase user adoption rates and save on unnecessary development costs then mobile usability testing is the way forward.