Sample Usability Testing Script for SaaS Startups

sample-usability-test-script

(Introduce yourself and thank the participant. Outline how the call will proceed. Emphasize that you want to hear their honest feedback, so they should think aloud and unfiltered as much as possible.)

PART 1: Desired Outcomes

Before we look at the site, I’d like to ask you just a few questions.

What’s your job title and what do you consider to be your most important responsibilities?

(Unpack their answer to understand the root of their responsibilities, their real "desired outcome"--that is, what they're trying to accomplish. For example, if they say "I'm responsible for maintaining data pipelines," dig deeper with questions like "Why is that important?" until you get at the heart of their responsibilities, like "My job is to ensure the integrity and auditability of the models that run our company." This might take a few follow-up questions to reach.)

What are your biggest challenges in trying to get that done (the desired outcome)?

What are you doing or what tools are you using to help you achieve that (the desired outcome)?

PART 2: Impressions of current messaging

(Ask participant to start screenshare. Instruct the participant to open your homepage.)

Can you tell me what you make of this page: what is it, and what strikes you about it? Just look around and do a little narrative. You can scroll if you want to, but don’t click on anything yet.

Now I’m going to ask you to try a few specific tasks. As much as possible, it will help us if you can try to think out loud as you go along.

If one of your colleagues sent you to this site, what are the first questions you'd ask about it?

Can you find the answers? Are they satisfactory to you? You can now click around as you would if you were browsing this on your own.

What would concern you about this service?

At this point, what else would you want to know before trying the service?

For your company's use case, what can you see that this service wouldn't do for you?

If you were interested in trying out this service, where would you start?

What might make it difficult to adopt this service at your company?

How would you describe this service to a technical colleague? How about to a non-technical colleague, such as your manager?

If you wanted to make a case to upper management for trying this service, what would you tell or show them?

What are some alternatives you would mention?

What would you tell them are the benefits for this service, compared to the alternatives?

What would you tell them are your concerns about this service?

Do you have any questions for me?

(Thank participant for their time, and follow up with an email and their gift card.)