Table of Contents
- If you love your design. Test it!
- Why usability testing matters
- 11 must-know usability testing tools
- 1. UserTesting
- 2. Optimal Workshop
- 3. Lookback
- 4. Hotjar
- 5. Maze
- 6. Lyssna
- 7. Loop11
- 8. Crazy Egg
- 9. UXtweak
- 10. Dovetail
- 11. Smaply
- 6 Tips for choosing the right tool
- 1. Define your goals
- 2. Consider your budget
- 3. User pool
- 4. Integration
- 5. Ease of use
- 6. Reporting capabilities
- Best practices in usability testing
- ✅ Pilot testing
- ✅ Diverse user pool
- ✅ Clear and concise tasks
- ✅ Think-aloud protocol
- ✅ Iterate and test again
- The tool is not the solution
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Read time: under 11 minutes
If you love your design. Test it!
Hey there, fellow UX designers!
If there's one thing we all agree on, it's that usability testing is the bread and butter of our craft. It's like the ultimate reality check for our meticulously designed user experiences.
While we've all been in the trenches with sketching, prototyping, and wireframing, the usability test is where the rubber meets the road.
Grab your floaties, we’re about to jump into the world of usability testing tools and finally make our designs not suck.
Why usability testing matters
Pay attention to what users do, not what they say. — Jakob Nielsen
Skipping usability testing is like baking a cake without tasting the batter. Congrats, your beautiful UX might taste like sadness.
Usability tests measure the user-friendliness of your design, uncovering pain points that might otherwise go unnoticed. They allow you to:
- Identify Friction Points: Understand where users struggle with your interface.
- Gauge Satisfaction Levels: Learn how users feel about your design, down to nitty-gritty details.
- Validate Concepts: Prove your design works—or adjust before you’ve invested too much time and money.
In short, usability testing mitigates risk by catching issues early, increasing the chances of delivering a delightful user experience.
More actionable tips and fewer headaches:
Join designers from 40+ countries using UX Playbook. Get detailed step-by-step guides and templates to supercharge your UX process.
11 must-know usability testing tools
Here's where the rubber meets the road. These 11 tools have saved my ass repeatedly, and they might just save yours too:
1. UserTesting
UserTesting gives you video recordings of real people using your product, providing raw and honest feedback.
Why you’ll love it:
- Smart templates: No need to reinvent the wheel every time.
- See users in action: Watch all the facepalms in glorious HD.
- Ridiculously fast feedback: Tests completed in hours, not weeks.
- Detailed notes & highlights: So you can roast yourself efficiently later.
- Massive participant pool: Target by demographics, location, device—you name it.
- AI-Powered Insights: Automatically uncovers patterns and insights from usability tests to highlight key issues and trends.
Watch out for: Starting around $15,000 annually, it's quite expensive. Also, some participants may be too ‘helpful’ rather than authentically confused.
Best for: Enterprise teams with dedicated research budgets who need quick and dirty insights.
2. Optimal Workshop
Optimal Workshop specializes in information architecture testing, including card sorting, tree testing, and first-click analysis.
Why you’ll love it:
- Easy setup: No PhD in Research Required™.
- Card sorts and tree tests: Ensure users can navigate easily.
- Sitemap validation: Build navigation structures that actually work.
- Automagic reports: Fancy graphs so you look like a genius in meetings.
- Global participants: Talk to users around the world without leaving your couch.
- Custom Reporting: Customizable reporting tools, making it easier to tailor insights for your specific needs.
Watch out for: The learning curve is steeper than it looks, and you'll need to know what you're looking for in the data.
Best for: Early-stage design validation when you're still figuring out how to organize content and features.
3. Lookback
Lookback lets you run live interviews and moderated usability sessions, recording everything for deep analysis.
Why you’ll love it:
- Instant replays: Review every "wtf" moment on demand.
- Timestamped notes: Never lose a key moment of confusion.
- Integrations galore: Easily integrates with your existing tools.
- Live moderated sessions: Talk directly to your users (and cry internally).
- Works across devices: Mobile, desktop, tablet—whatever setup they have.
Watch out for: Occasional technical hiccups with webcam/screen recording, especially on older devices.
Best for: Design teams who test frequently and need something more flexible than rigid enterprise solutions.
4. Hotjar
Why you’ll love it:
- Simple setup: Install a snippet, and boom—you’re in.
- Instant surveys: Get feedback before users ghost you.
- Funnels and conversion tracking: See where users drop off.
- Heatmaps galore: Find out where users actually click (and rage-click).
- Session recordings: Watch real user journeys without judgment (okay, some judgment).
- Engage (Moderated Interviews): Conduct live user interviews directly from the platform.
Watch out for: The sheer volume of data can be overwhelming, so you’ll need a plan to analyze it.
Best for: Continuous monitoring of live products to understand behavioral patterns at scale.
5. Maze
Maze lets you test your designs quickly. It works with Figma, Adobe XD, and Sketch—so you can get feedback without coding.
Why you’ll love it:
- Scalable: Works for both small and large projects.
- Easy insights: Get simple, actionable results from your tests.
- No code needed: Just upload your designs and start testing.
- Quick feedback: Speed up your design process with instant results.
Watch out for: The focus on quantitative data sometimes misses the "why" behind user behavior.
Best for: Quick validation of interaction patterns when deciding between design alternatives.
6. Lyssna
Lyssna lets you run quick tests like five-second tests and preference polls.
Why you’ll love it:
- Fast setup: Get tests running in minutes.
- Affordable: Great for smaller teams or budgets.
- Real user feedback: Easily access users from around the world that match your demographic criteria.
Watch out for: Limited depth compared to full usability testing platforms—best for rapid validation.
Best for: Small teams and freelancers who need quick design validation without breaking the bank.
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7. Loop11
Loop11 lets you run detailed usability tests and understand how users interact with your designs.
Why you’ll love it:
- Custom tests: Create tests tailored to your needs.
- Browser-based: No software needed—just use your browser.
- Data-rich insights: Gather lots of data to improve your design.
Watch out for: The participant recruiting options aren't as robust as some competitors, so you might need to handle that separately.
Best for: Comparative testing when you want to benchmark your design against competitors or previous versions.
More actionable tips and fewer headaches:
Join designers from 40+ countries using UX Playbook. Get detailed step-by-step guides and templates to supercharge your UX process.
8. Crazy Egg
Crazy Egg offers heatmaps, scrollmaps, and session recordings to show how users interact with your design.
Why you’ll love it:
- A/B testing: Test different versions of your design.
- Heatmaps: See where users click and what they ignore.
- Confetti reports: Understand which parts of your design get the most attention.
Watch out for: It's more focused on analytics than traditional task-based usability testing, so you'll need to combine it with other methods.
Best for: Identifying optimization opportunities on existing sites.
9. UXtweak
UXtweak is a comprehensive UX research platform focused on information architecture (IA) and first impressions.
Why you'll love it:
- First-click testing: Perfect for validating navigation.
- Card sorting and tree testing: Great for IA research.
- Website tester: Works on live sites without modification.
- Affordable: More budget-friendly than many enterprise options.
Watch out for: The participant panel isn't as extensive as some competitors, so you may need to supply your own testers.
Best for: Teams focused on IA who need specialized tools for organizing complex content.
10. Dovetail
Dovetail is a no-code UX research platform designed for usability testing across live websites, prototypes, and competitor sites.
Why you’ll love it:
- AI Insights: Automatically analyze and categorize your qualitative data for faster and deeper insights.
- Better Tagging: You can now tag data in multiple ways, making it easier to organize and understand user feedback.
- Built-in Participant Recruiting: The Recruit feature lets you find and manage participants directly within Dovetail, simplifying the process.
Watch out for: The participant recruiting options aren’t as advanced as some competitors, so you might need to handle that separately.
Best for: Comparative testing when you want to benchmark your design against competitors or previous versions.
11. Smaply
Smaply helps you create detailed journey maps to understand how users interact with your design at every step.
Why you’ll love it:
- Journey mapping: See the full user experience from start to finish.
- Qualitative insights: Get deep insights into how users feel and behave.
- Mobile ethnography: Collect real-world data from users in their natural environment.
Watch out for: It's not a usability testing tool per se, but rather a tool for planning what aspects of the experience need testing.
Best for: UX strategists who need to identify testing priorities across complex user journeys.
6 Tips for choosing the right tool
Now that you’re familiar with the must-know usability testing tools, the next step is choosing the right one for your needs. Here are some key factors to help guide your decision:
1. Define your goals
Before diving into a tool, define your primary objective:
- Qualitative insights: If you’re looking for in-depth user emotions and feedback, tools like Lyssna or Smaply are ideal for quick, qualitative testing.
- Quantitative data: For tracking measurable results like navigation success rates, tools like UserTesting or Crazy Egg will provide the analytics you need.
- Mixed methods: If you need both qualitative and quantitative insights, tools like UXtweak and Dovetail can help you gather and analyze both types of data seamlessly.
Pro tip: Create a one-page test plan with 3 clear objectives before tool shopping. When results arrive, you'll know exactly what decisions they'll inform.
2. Consider your budget
Testing tools vary widely in price, from free options to premium enterprise solutions. Align your tool choice with both your current budget and potential future needs.
- Budget-friendly: Tools like Hotjar, UXtweak or Lyssna provide solid functionality without breaking the bank.
- Enterprise-grade: If you need deeper, more detailed insights, and you have the budget, consider investing in something like UserTesting.
Pro tip: Many premium tools offer free trials or limited free plans. Test several before committing, and negotiate annual pricing for 15-30% discounts.
3. User pool
Some tools come with built-in participant pools, while others require you to supply your own users.
- Built-in pools: If you don’t have a direct user base, tools like UserTesting or Lyssna offer access to a wide range of testers.
- Custom user groups: If you already have access to a specific user base (e.g., employees, internal testers), tools like Dovetail, Lookback or Optimal Workshop allow you to leverage your audience.
Pro tip: For specialized products, built-in pools often lack domain expertise. Create a small panel of 5-7 target users for ongoing feedback cycles.
4. Integration
Check how well the usability testing tool integrates with your current design tools. Tools that sync with your workflow (e.g., Figma, Adobe XD) will save you time and effort.
- UserTesting integrates with Figma, Adobe XD, Trello, and other project management tools for seamless workflows.
- Lyssna supports integrations with Slack for team collaboration and easy export to Google Sheets.
- Lookback integrates with Zoom and allows for screen and video recording during moderated sessions, although it does not have native design tool integrations.
- UXtweak integrates with Google Analytics and can be used alongside your design and testing workflows for better tracking and data analysis.
- Dovetail integrates with various design tools like Figma, Trello, and Slack, making it easy to share research insights across teams.
Pro tip: Check if your design tool has native testing features first. Both Figma and XD have built-in prototype testing that may cover basic needs.
5. Ease of use
A tool that’s intuitive and easy to navigate will make your life—and your participants’—much easier. Choose a tool that both you and your users can understand without a steep learning curve.
- User-friendly: Tools like Dovetail, Hotjar and Crazy Egg are simple to set up and use, even for beginners.
- Advanced features: If you’re a power user, tools like UXtweak, UserTesting or Loop11 may offer more robust functionality at the cost of a steeper learning curve.
Pro tip: Run a 15-minute test with a non-designer colleague. If they struggle to understand the tool, your participants likely will too.
6. Reporting capabilities
Look for tools that offer clear, actionable reports. The quality of insights you gain from your usability tests will directly impact how you refine your designs.
- Visual reports: For fast insights, tools like Crazy Egg and Hotjar provide heatmaps and session recordings that are easy to digest.
- In-depth metrics: If you need more detailed analysis, tools like UXtweak, UserTesting or Loop11 offer extensive metrics and customizable reports.
Pro tip: Create custom report templates for different stakeholders. Executives need highlights and ROI, designers need detailed interaction flows and pain points.
More actionable tips and fewer headaches:
Join designers from 40+ countries using UX Playbook. Get detailed step-by-step guides and templates to supercharge your UX process.
Best practices in usability testing
As you embark on your usability testing journey, keep these best practices in mind to maximize the efficacy of your tests. Here are 5 ones:
✅ Pilot testing
Always run a pilot test to identify any issues with your test design or tool setup. A small dry run can save you from major headaches down the line.
✅ Diverse user pool
Ensure your test participants are representative of your actual user base to get relevant and actionable insights.
Diversity in age, gender, technical proficiency, and other demographics can provide a more rounded perspective.
✅ Clear and concise tasks
When designing tasks for users, clarity is key. Avoid ambiguous language, and ensure tasks are concise but clear. Complex tasks can lead to user confusion, muddying your results.
✅ Think-aloud protocol
Encouraging participants to think aloud as they navigate your design can provide invaluable qualitative insights.
You’ll get to hear their thought processes, frustrations, and aha moments in real-time.
✅ Iterate and test again
Usability testing is not a one-and-done deal. Use the insights you gather to iterate on your designs, and then test again to validate improvements.
The tool is not the solution
Tools are just tools.
They won't magically make you a better researcher or designer. The best usability study comes from:
- Creating realistic tasks
- Asking the right questions
- Listening more than talking
- Recruiting the right participants
- Being willing to hear uncomfortable truths
No tool can do these things for you. But the right tool can amplify your efforts, make the process more efficient, and help you communicate findings more effectively.
So pick a tool (any tool!) and start testing.
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