Let me reintroduce my pal the usability test

This week from People Nerds: We revisit usability tests, pair design sprints with user research, and share a callout for designers

Take it back now y'all You know it. You love it. It's usability testing! We're getting back to the basics with this step-by-step guide. Visit (or revisit) the goals of this method, common pitfalls, the ins and outs of task-writing and analysis, all with a downloadable template and checklist.   USABILITY PRO? I THINK SO This week's community poll Answer with a click this week, see the results in next week's newsletter.   Which of the following do you use most often as part of your research practice or process?   1. FigJam 2. Miro 3. Mural 4. A collaboration tool not listed here 5. I don't use tools like these as part of my practice On your marks...get set...DESIGN It is so easy to keep an idea in your mind forever. Constantly reimagining it, tweaking it, or scrapping it altogether in an endless strive for perfection. To combat this loop, try a design sprint. Incorporating user research into this quick testing cycle is an excellent way to solve problems quickly and expand on half-baked ideas. AND THEY'RE OFF Designers…ASSEMBLE! 📣 We're looking for folks to partner with our team to explore how we can adapt and build tools to support designers' participation in research.  You'll be at the forefront of exploration, providing intel for research processes, testing concepts, and shaping our offerings to better address the needs of designers. Want to get involved? Apply to the council! I think a lot of research teams tend to measure "what is" versus "what could be." John S. Couch Founder, Galvanize Studios READ MORE More we're discussing: As they say, "People don't buy products. They buy solutions to problems." Learn how to uncover unmet user needs in your next study. Sometimes a large sample size isn't in the cards. To balance small sample sizes and better support your data, triangulate your project. What we're hearing: Prioritizing during a sprint can feel overwhelming. Laura Klein advises to not skip steps or cut corners but to instead design the smallest thing possible. After over a decade in UX, H Locke pens a letter to their former self, highlighting things we should NOT worry about in our career development. dscout is a company composed of People Nerds working to make context-rich human insight an everyday habit across organizations. The dscout platform—Diary, Live, Recruit, and Express—enables remote qualitative research that brings researchers into the moments experienced and shared by real people. Curious about the platform or working with dscout? Talk to an account executive.  dscout, 222 North LaSalle St. Suite 650, Chicago, Illinois 60601, (312) 880-9715 Unsubscribe Manage preferences