Product Usability Testing

Finding solutions for success based on in depth research methodologies.

About the project

GoSmallBiz created a product, in partnership with Google, that will allow users to go through and set up their own Google Ads with an easy step-by-step wizard. The user can then communicate with Google Ads experts on the GoSmallBiz team, as well as check their metrics on a product dashboard. The overall goal of this research was to make sure that the user experience of the Google Ads by GoSmallBiz product was intuitive and seamless. I wanted to see and learn how the participants utilized the product in order to complete tasks required of them during the testing session. Lastly, I also wanted to ask testing participants questions in order to uncover design flaws, opportunities, or successes.

Client:

GoSmallBiz

Services:

UX research

Methodology

I created email invitations to send out to users that were picked from a pilot group for this specific product. These invitations allowed the participants to accept or decline joining a testing session, as well as allowed them to use an online scheduling app to choose a date and time that was most convenient for them.

Sessions were held via Zoom, which allowed for easy viewing of the users’ behaviors within the product’s environment. The Zooms were recorded so that data could be reviewed after the sessions were completed.

During the usability testing sessions, users were asked questions that were pre-determined within a script. They were asked to complete various steps within the product and comment on what they were seeing, feeling, and wanting to accomplish.

Considerations

It is important to note that all users had already seen and interacted with the product prior to testing. They had also been instructed on how to answer some of the questions within the setup process and what their budget should be set to.
Due to prior coaching of how to fill out the various fields within the product, there seemed to be an overall sense of “it doesn’t really matter” because they know that GoSmallBiz would go through and review to fix any errors.
A pre-pilot survey revealed that the majority of session participants were new to digital marketing efforts and the budgeting aspects that go along with them, while some had tried digital marketing but did not see any success.
Some session participants were not the actual ad account holder - they were assistants.

Key Findings

Overall, users were happy with the time it took to complete the steps within the product’s setup process, and that the product was very intuitive.

Users appreciated the option to provide additional information to the Ads experts at GoSmallBiz.
Some users said that if they had not already known about the prices, they would have been shocked by the changes made when adding new products and services to their ad spend page set up.
Some users were confused about which Google account to link to this product, as well as what that Google account would be used for.
While analyzing mouse movements during the screenshare, it was noted that users did not pay much attention to the Google Ads platform statistics listed on the left side of the page. Some users admitted to skimming it, or noticing it on later slides.
Some users said it would be helpful to have tooltips for some of the questions they had to answer within the product, stating they may not have known how to complete a field without prior knowledge of the parameters. (ex: ad service area, industry, and keywords.

Recommendations

Add tooltips to various parts of the account setup, including which Gmail to link, how to choose an industry, what an ad service area is, and information on keywords and differentiators.
Draw attention to an increasing ad spend when a new product selection is made. This could include a pop-up or more bold price font-face. To avoid further “sticker shock”, we could provide a “more info” option that tells more about how ad spend and budget are calculated and why, or a snackbar/banner to draw attention to the change.