A Closer Look at User Testing in Digital Skills User Experience by Accenture

The Digital Skills User Experience course by Accenture explains why testing a design with real users is important. Even after gathering requirements, defining personas, creating user journeys, and building a prototype, the design still needs to be tested by the people who will actually use it.

User testing helps reveal misunderstandings, missed details, and flaws that designers or teams may not notice on their own. Real users often struggle to explain exactly what they want, and sometimes their needs can be misinterpreted, which makes testing even more important.

User Testing

User testing challenges the design and highlights what if situations that were not considered earlier. The course shows that testing during the design phase can save time, money, and effort before any development begins. Even small sessions with a few users can have a major impact on improving the product.

Feedback from people who were not involved in the creation process is valuable because it is more objective. After gathering all comments, the next step is to analyse how often issues appear, how serious they are, and how much effort it would take to fix them. This helps teams prioritise which feedback to use to update the design.

Different Ways to Test with Users

The course explains several types of user testing. Task based testing focuses on asking users to complete specific goals in the prototype. Instructions should be simple and not too detailed so users can explore the design freely and reveal usability issues. Designers observe how users act, how they respond emotionally, and where they get stuck. Tools like the System Usability Scale can also measure how easy a design feels to use.

Real world testing is another method. As designs become more detailed, it becomes important to test them on different devices such as phones, tablets, or self service machines. Each device creates a different experience. The environment also matters. A user might be relaxed at home or stressed in a noisy shopping centre.

Many prototyping tools allow designs to be sent directly to mobile devices so the experience feels more realistic. Other methods include gorilla testing, where designers ask strangers to test the prototype, and diary testing, where users take the design home and record their experience over time.

A B Testing

A B testing compares two versions of a design to see which one performs better. Users might receive version A or version B, and their interactions are tracked to understand which design supports their goals more effectively. This method is especially helpful after a site has launched because it relies on real world data.

Even small changes like menu structure, button size, layout, or images can influence user behaviour. The course even mentions how Google tested forty one shades of blue to find the one that received the most clicks.

Continuous Improvement

The course explains that user testing comes in many forms, and different stages of design benefit from different methods. Whether it is task based testing, real world testing, diary testing, or gorilla testing, each approach helps designers understand how users actually experience the product. The key idea is to keep testing and improving. Frequent feedback and adjustments help ensure that the final product meets user needs and creates a smooth, reliable experience.

References

Accenture (n.d.) Digital Skills User Experience. FutureLearn. Accessed 2 December 2025.