...it's not the BIG things they help you find. It's the little things. Any designer worth his/her salt can figure out:
- major structures for the application
- major metaphors for the user interface
- the main processes for the biz logic
- the major user profiles
- the basic user activities (add, edit, delete, etc.)
Even great designers who are trained to put themselves in the shoes of their users can only do that so well. After all, they just aren't their target audience, by definition. They're too close to the material.
There's nobody better than end-users to pick up on the little things like:
- "Suppose I create a [doohickey] and then I want to rename it? How do I do that? (Hints to a new activity)"
- "What's the difference between add and insert? (Hints towards being more specific with menu items)"
- (First time in front of the app) "Where do I start?!"
Well if they only help with the finicky little details, then we don't really need user testing, right? I mean, it's the big things that are important right? Wrong.
Here's the thing. I've written repeatedly about how "the devil's in the details" and "the details ARE the design." So while each of those little questions or comments from end-users may not mean much individually, when added up, they can mean the difference between what is perceived as an elegant application versus one that is just OK.
Look at it this way:
Everyone gets the "big" things right. The only way to be better than the masses is to get the little things right too.
The little things that other people neglect, or stop short of. That's what sets you (and your application) above everyone and everything else.
Deciding to do some user testing when you've never experienced it before takes a leap of faith. You honestly never know in advance what they're going to come up with.
Finding people that are willing to use your pre-release software in all of its half-baked state is a real blessing. Let them. Support them. Encourage them. Give them free things and make them feel special. They can provide incredibly valuable insight that is literally impossible for you to come up with yourself - because you're too close to your application already. Those people are indirectly offering to help make your application successful. Take it!
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