User Test Script and Scenario

🔑 How to Use: This script provides the bare bones of a User Test. You can follow it, filling in any specifics in spots marked by [square brackets] to begin a User Test and conduct the interview and wrap-up afterwards.

Introduction

Hi! Thank you so much for agreeing to User Test with us! We’ve really been looking forward to talking to you.

We are a team from […], and we’re working on a new idea for […]! We’re in a very early stage of exploring it and playing with a lot of different ideas, so we would love to get your reactions, feedback, and thoughts. There is nothing you can say that will hurt our feelings, so tell us whatever comes up.

{Any other pleasantries you want to get the user warmed up — but DO NOT interview in too much detail here.}

Initial Check-in

Before we start, let me ask you a few questions.

[Initial questions/ check status quo]

Scenario

Before we start, let me explain how this User Test will work!

[Introduce Scenario]

Directions

Let me explain to you how this part is going to work.

In just a few minutes, we’re going to screen share [description of the prototype].

The offers and designs will look extremely ugly and basic and not real or polished at all. We’re doing it this way on purpose because it’s just one of many ideas we’re considering, and we are completely not attached to it in any way.

At the same time, we are going to set up a scene, like in a movie, around you and the design. You, the actual person that you are, will be the star of the scene. Just pretend that you’re actually in that situation and do whatever you would naturally, genuinely do — whether that’s interact with the thing we put in front of you, quit, go browse Facebook, whatever that may be. If you want to click on or select something, or do something on the prototype, just tell us and we’ll change it in the screen share.

The most important thing you can do to help us in this user test is share your AUTHENTIC STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS REACTION while you are in the scene and interacting with the prototype.

We want to hear what you’re thinking, feeling, seeing, and experiencing in real time as if we could hear everything running through your head with no filter. (You know those people who are “external processors” and say everything that crosses their mind? That’s what we’re looking for.) If you’re reading something, just say a few words of it out loud so we can tell where you are, but you don’t have to read the whole thing aloud.

While you do this, we will sit back outside the scene. We’re not allowed to talk to you during the test, so don’t look at us. Just do your thing. We will get to talk directly back and forth about it later.

Sometimes, we might say “pause” or “cut,” which means you’ll stop for a moment and the test will be frozen while we make some adjustments. And then we’ll say “play” again, and the test will resume with the new changes.

Most importantly, we want to hear if you’re genuinely disinterested, bored, or when you want to quit. If something isn’t natural for you or you don’t like what you’re experiencing, it’s okay to just say, “Oh this is awful”, “I would quit now”, “I would never use this” and just decide to stop interacting.

Afterwards, we’ll have a followup conversation and ask you some questions.

Ready?

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The 1-10 Scale

✅ Be sure to ask this every time, early in the interview — even if you already feel like you know the answer, or it doesn’t fit the flow of the conversation.

This is worded the way it is so that the scale is truly centered on a 5 (fine/as expected). Be really rigorous about framing it this way, or users are likely to rate everything a 7 or 8 and you won’t get useful information.

1. Ask, “On a scale of 1-10, where 1 = horrible, 10 = mind-blowing, and 5 = fine/normal, how valuable would this experience be for you if it were real? Honestly.”

2. Ask, “What makes it that rating?”

3. Ask, “What would make it a 9 or 10?”

4. Ask, “On the same scale, how would you rate your most recent experience of [???]?”

Pay attention to their tone of voice. People may often say, “6 or 7” and usually mean “6, but I’m too polite to say so.” Always round ratings in the less favorable-to-us direction.

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Wrap Up

All right, I think that’s everything we need!

Thanks again for doing this! That was so incredibly valuable. I have so many notes from everything you said. OR [effusively] Ok, now that the formal part is over and I don’t have to react neutrally: thank you so much, that was fantastically helpful!