Below, we are going to show you how! In this article, we will cover everything you need to know about Figma prototype testing. Usability testing with prototypes might seem complicated at first, but with the right knowledge and guidance, it is a breeze. With our help, you will uncover design mistakes and prevent some serious website issues from happening. After all, it’s better to fail at the prototyping stage than having to fix some post-development mistakes later on, right?
Table of contents
- Why is Figma user testing important?
- How do you perform remote usability testing with Figma?
- What are the benefits of testing a prototype?
- When and with whom should you test your Figma prototypes?
- How to test your Figma prototypes with UXtweak?
- How to analyze Figma testing results?
- What are the most common mistakes of prototype user testing?
- How to get the most out of your Figma prototypes: testing tips and tricks
- Conclusion: The faster you fail, the sooner you succeed
Why is Figma user testing important?
What if we told you that you could avoid half of your future UX mistakes and start building a user-friendly product even before the beginning of the development process? Well, that’s exactly what prototype testing allows you to do. Instead of fixing flaws in an existing product, you can just prevent them from happening.
Figma user testing with prototypes allows you to collect both qualitative and quantitative feedback from your users early on, see what works and what doesn’t, and prevent yourself from making poor design choices.
How do you perform remote usability testing with Figma?
You can follow these steps to perform a usability test in Figma:
- Сreate a prototype of your concept. To do this, use design software like Figma to construct a clickable flow by connecting various artboards or pages in your design file.
- Recruit respondents. You can send the link directly to participants via email or messaging app, or you can recruit participants from UXtweak User Panel for a good price.
- Design your study and add the tasks. Use UXtweak to quickly build up a prototyping testing study. Include realistic tasks that represent real-life scenarios of users interacting with your product. Define the path or paths participants should take to successfully complete the task.
- Use screen recording. This enables you to obtain in-depth feedback and identify pain points easily. Tools like UXtweak store the recordings of your usability tests inside the app, so you can get back to them whenever you need.
- Use voice and face recordings. Some tools provide a think-aloud protocol with which you can hear testers talking about the tasks they are completing. With face recordings, you can also observe all the non-verbal cues from participants
- Analyze and improve. Rewatch and analyze the recordings to spot usability issues and find areas for improvement.
Check out this video to learn how to set up a usability test with a Figma prototype in UXtweak:
What are the benefits of testing a prototype?
Saves you tons of money
Solving usability problems on an already running website generally will cost you a couple of times more than doing the same but with the Figma prototype. Not to mention all the time and clients you are going to lose as a result of your bad UX choices.
Gives you all types of feedback
You test user flows, discover drawbacks, and evaluate your designs in a way that allows you to gather both qualitative and quantitative feedback. And the best thing is, when recruiting the right participants you can be sure that your studies are unbiased and objective.
Proves or breaks your doubts
User testing Figma prototypes will answer all the confusing questions beforehand, assuring you have a confident launch of your new project.
Discovers new ideas
This amount of user feedback will not only help you improve your current design but also uncover countless opportunities for future development. Getting in close contact with users can sometimes bring insights we didn’t know we needed and even inspire your future upgrades.
When and with whom should you test your Figma prototypes?
The best way to do it is to undertake several rounds of testing during the whole design process. Test both low-fidelity prototypes and high-fidelity prototypes. The final round of usability testing, of course, should be conducted with a finished high-fidelity interactive prototype so that you can easily follow the user flow and see how they perform certain tasks. We also recommend you conduct some preference tests as you move through the design process. Allow users to reduce your doubts by simply telling you which design variant they like most.
For the participants, keep in mind that those people should be your potential users, so take your time and define the target audience and user profiles. As for the number you should test with, the best rule of thumb is to listen to the usability pioneer Jakob Nielsen:
If you want a single number, the answer is simple: test 5 users in a usability study. Testing with 5 people lets you find almost as many usability problems as you'd find using many more test participants.
Nielsen goes on to clarify, however, that this number may vary, depending on the goals of your study and the methods you choose. Quantitative studies require a bigger number of testers as it’s necessary for accurate statistics and card sorting and eye tracking are also best done with a larger amount of testers.
How to test your Figma prototypes with UXtweak?
Even if it sounds scary, testing your Figma prototypes is a piece of cake when done with the right tool. With UXtweak you can set up a prototype testing study in a couple of clicks and here’s how:
- Prepare your Figma file: Create a copy in Figma and trim any unnecessary content you don’t need for the testing.
- Register or log in to your UXtweak account.
- Create and name your study.
- Share your Figma prototype:
- Sign in to Figma and open the file you want to test
- Click the Present button in the header
- Click Share Prototype and make sure anyone with the link can view it
- Copy the link
- Import the prototype: Once you have the link, you only need to insert it into the Prototype link field and click Import. UXtweak will do the rest of the work and you should see your designs, including the hotspots appear in the prototype editor. Check out this Figma Prototype testing guide for more details!
- Create tasks for testers to fulfill: Here you will specify the starting points and correct paths to the solution in your prototype, using the imported images.
- Write instructions, welcome, and thank you messages.
- Set up a screening question for your respondents, and add some pre-study and follow-up questions.
- Brand your study with the company’s logo and colors
- Recruit respondents: You can share a link to your study via email or social media or set up a Recruiting Widget on your website and get your real users to participate! Or simply order participants from the User Panel.
And that’s it, you’re good to go! Now just perform your study, analyze the results, and move on to the next stage of creating your user-friendly digital product.
How to analyze Figma testing results?
Before diving into the results, revisit the goals and objectives of the testing. This will provide context for interpreting the data.
Look at any quantitative data collected during testing:
- Take a look at task completion rates – The higher the rate of successful completions, the more successful a design
- Time taken to complete tasks – Higher times mean less efficiency.
- Explore heatmaps and click maps – In tools like UXtweak, you can see where users clicked most, even the sequence of clicks a user made. Compare this with the ideal path you want users to take and explore where they were confused.
- Take a look at deadclicks – If an element is not supposed to be clickable and has been clicked a lot (deadclicks) it shows flaws in the design that cause confusion for the users.
What are the most common mistakes of prototype user testing?
Usability testing your Figma prototypes is a straightforward process that yields a lot of insights. However, there are mistakes one might make in the testing process, that could render the results skewed or unhelpful. In this part, we will review some of the most widespread mistakes made when running usability tests on Figma prototypes:
- Unclear goal or task for usability testing. It’s important to have a clear understanding of what you want to learn or achieve through usability testing so you can plan and design the test appropriately and interpret the results accurately.
- The involvement of non-diverse groups of participants. It’s important to recruit a diverse group of users for testing, to ensure that the prototype is usable for a wide range of people with different backgrounds, abilities, and preferences.
- Providing participants with insufficient time to complete tasks. Make sure to allow enough time for participants to complete tasks and explore the paths they can take, as rushing them may lead to incomplete or inaccurate results.
- Absence of observation and recording of the testing process. Observing and recording usability testing sessions allows you to see how participants interact with the prototype and identify any issues or challenges they encounter.
- Insufficiency of analysis and reporting on the results of usability testing. It’s important to carefully analyze and report the results of the usability testing so you can identify any issues or areas for improvement and make changes to the prototype accordingly.
How to get the most out of your Figma prototypes: testing tips and tricks
1. Test the prototype early and often
User testing prototypes early and often prevents you from making any mistakes that could become incredibly difficult and costly to fix in the later development process. It is like a preventive check to see if everything is on the right path to a finished product that will be well received by the users.
2. Use real content
The truth is, that content directly influences the user’s decision-making process. That’s why using realistic labels and photos is so important. Try to stay away from the “lorem ipsum” labels and texts as well as some unrelated pictures.
3. Define what you are testing
Setting a clear goal will help you later with analyzing insights. Be specific.
Instead of: “I want to test my Figma prototype” try “I want to know if people are able to log in to the app through my prototype”
4. Write good questions
Writing good questions is key to getting high-quality feedback when usability testing Figma prototypes. Your questions should be unbiased and not pressure the tester to answer a certain way. Here is a great article from NN Group covering some common biases. It will help you learn how to choose your words wisely.
5. Test your prototype in different environments
Your product is probably intended to be used on multiple devices. Test your responsive layouts as well and make sure everything works perfectly whether it is a desktop-based or mobile prototype, Make sure it also works in every browser.
6. Don’t change the tasks
If a user finds themselves lost or stuck on the wrong page, instead of changing the task just prepare some follow-up questions. Find out what the confusion point is, why they decided to click there, and what they were expecting to find.
7. Run A/B Testing
With A/B testing, you can test two or more different user interface prototypes. Versions A and B will be displayed to different users. You will be able to determine how well both versions perform in comparison to one another after a number of users have visited the site.
Watch the recording of our webinar A/B testing on Prototypes! In the webinar, we will show you how to run user testing of Figma prototypes on a specific example, give useful tips for proper analysis, and generally have an informative conversation.
Conclusion: The faster you fail, the sooner you succeed
Testing Figma prototypes is the ultimate way to take a quick glance at the future and be able to prevent the usability issues that may occur on a real website. It ensures you launch an already user-friendly product that meets your customer’s needs and expectations and provides the best user experience. Start running usability tests with your Figma prototypes as a part of the design and development process and improve the performance of your digital products!
