Find out what your users really think with the thinking-aloud method
I’ve worked in e-commerce for a few years now, and I often wonder what users actually think about our shops’ designs. During my Content Strategy master’s at FH Joannuem, I was introduced to the thinking-aloud method. According to Jakob Nielsen, it may be the most valuable usability engineering method. So, if you want to learn more about your users, keep reading.
UX or usability?
First things first, what is usability?
The main difference between user experience (UX) and usability is that user experience includes the entire user journey, from the initial engagement with a product or service to the actual usage and beyond, while usability focuses on how intuitive a product or service is to use.
This means that usability involves understanding how users think, approach tasks, and interpret the user interface. To identify areas for improvement, usability testing is essential in UX research.
User experience (UX), on the other hand, is about the overall experience of a user when interacting with a product or service. It involves understanding the user’s needs, motivations, and behaviours. UX is focused on creating positive experiences for users, motivating them to use a product or service and continue using it in the long term. It covers areas such as usability, accessibility, and brand experience.
What is the thinking-aloud method?
The thinking-aloud method is used in usability testing, product design, psychology, and many other areas. Carrying out a thinking-aloud test means asking participants to verbalize their thoughts while performing a task or recalling thoughts immediately following the completion of a task. From a thinking-aloud test, you can learn how users interact with a product or service, their thoughts and feelings, and what areas need improvement. Moreover, you can also gain insights into how they approach a task and the strategies they use to complete it.
What are the pros?
The main pros of the thinking aloud method are that it is easy to carry out and does not require any special equipment. This means it is not cost intensive, which is a huge plus. Additionally, it provides qualitative data, which can be applied to as few as one subjects and can be convincing when discussing with developers or designers. The thinking-aloud method is also flexible. This means it can be used at any stage of the development lifecycle.
What are the cons?
One downside of the thinking-aloud method is that participants may become distracted by verbalizing their thoughts. This can interfere with the task they have to perform. Sometimes participants also may be uncomfortable speaking their thoughts out loud, or what they say may not provide enough detail making it challenging to analyze their thoughts.
What do I need?
According to Nielsen, the recommended number of test participants for a thinking-aloud test is 5.
“As you add more and more users, you learn less and less because you will keep seeing the same things again and again. There is no real need to keep observing the same thing multiple times, … After the fifth user, you are wasting your time by observing the same findings repeatedly but not learning much new.”
You should also ensure that the participants are representative of the intended user base and that they are comfortable with the task they are given, as this will help ensure accurate results.
As for hardware, you will need a recording device for capturing the participants’ verbalized thoughts, as well as a means of analyzing the data collected. Some tests also allow being conducted online; for this case, you need a suitable platform.
A window on the soul?
Jakob Nielsen said that the thinking aloud method serves as a window on the soul, which lets you discover what users think about your design, and I agree with that. This method was the most interesting I have tried so far, and I will certainly use it again in the future.
My peers Birgit and Victor also wrote about this topic; you can find their insights here and here.
For further information, please follow the links:
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/thinking-aloud-the-1-usability-tool/
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/why-you-only-need-to-test-with-5-users/
https://uxpajournal.org/practices-challenges-think-aloud-protocols-survey/
