Usability testing, prototypes and acceptance testing
How to validate a design with end users: task-based usability tests with realistic scenarios and at least five participants, prototype tests matched to what each fidelity can answer, testing-session plans that protect independent feedback, and user acceptance testing in a sandbox before go-live.
Given a scenario, plan methods for validating and testing a design with the end user.
~7 min read · 12 practice questions ·
What the exam expects
- Choose a behavioral, task-based usability test when the question is what users can do, and plan at least five participants.
- Write task scenarios that give a realistic goal without the steps, and ask open, non-leading questions during the session.
- Match the prototype and its feedback to the question: ideation and exploration formats vs higher-fidelity validation, splash pages for pricing interest.
- Plan testing sessions: compensation, roles, note-taking, release forms, individual scorecards before group talk, and whether the prototype changes between sessions.
- Recommend user acceptance testing in a sandbox, with sign-off, as the last check before go-live.
Key terms: usability testing (measuring tasks and performance to learn how users experience a product); behavioral vs attitudinal (what people do vs what they say); task scenario (a realistic goal and context the participant completes unaided); prototype testing (testing a prototype on real users); user acceptance testing (UAT) (end-user testing for approval before production release).
Key facts
- Detail
- At least 5 participants
- Detail
- Up to 30; start with 15 and check for patterns
- Detail
- Measures tasks and performance
- Detail
- Time to complete a task; number of errors
- Detail
- "Before we go to the next screen, what do you expect to see?"
- Detail
- Individual scorecards before group discussion
- Detail
- Better model, no quantitative evidence
- Detail
- Higher fidelity, strategy set
- Detail
- Sandbox, after QA, end users, pass or fail, sign-off
Sources for this section (5)
- Define Your Research Plantrailhead.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Craft Your Questionstrailhead.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Create a Prototyping Plantrailhead.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Explore Key Prototyping Considerationstrailhead.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Learn About User Acceptance Testingtrailhead.salesforce.com (opens in a new tab)
- Why is a task-based usability test better than a survey for measuring speed?
- When should a team keep the same prototype version for every session?
- What is the minimum number of participants for a usability study?
- When does user acceptance testing happen?
The questions are free to read. Answers with their sources and self-grading are included with the pack.
Keep reading with the Platform User Experience Designer pack
- Core concepts
- Exam traps
- Worked scenario
The pack includes:
- All 22 lessons of the Platform User Experience Designer guide, with reading progress
- Interactive decision walks and step-by-step sequence steppers
- Inline practice questions and one-click topic practice (12 questions for this lesson)
- An official source cited for every claim
- An AI tutor that answers from the guide
- Unlimited timed practice exams