Customer test · Lesson 01 of 05
Choose a question worth answering.
Before you decide what to test, decide what you need to learn.
Write one question that names a situation, something you can observe and a decision the answer would inform.
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Start with the decision.
“Will my business work?” asks for more than one small activity can answer. Your next decision is usually more specific: whether to change some wording, spend time on a prototype or learn more about a customer’s current routine.
Write that decision first. Then name what you are assuming. If you would make the same decision whichever answer you found, choose a question that could actually change your next move.
Make the question observable.
A useful starting question gives you something concrete to look for. Say who is in the situation, what they are trying to do and what you need to understand about it.
For a rough booking page, you could observe whether a person can identify the service and appointment they need without you explaining the page. That question can guide a simple activity and the notes you take.
Keep the boundary visible. Understanding a booking page does not tell you whether someone will pay, return or recommend the business. Those are different questions.
Pause and try
Which question serves the decision?
Sam is deciding whether to revise the booking description. Which question gives the most direct information for that decision?
Read the explanation
The second question connects directly to understanding the page. General approval and a promised recommendation do not show which words or steps need work. Even a clear answer does not establish demand.
Bring it into your work
Now name your question.
Use your own idea or stay with Sam’s fictional example. Connect the decision, assumption and question before choosing a test activity.
These notes become part of your final test plan. Use the fictional example if you prefer. Keep sensitive personal information out of this practice.
Review your work
- Could different answers lead to different next steps?
- Does the question name who or what you would observe?
- Can you explain what it would still leave unanswered?
An existing tool opens separately. It does not receive an answer automatically. Its editable file remains separate from your course file.
Keep your place.
When you have worked through the explanation, practice and application, mark this lesson reviewed. This is your record, not a test score.
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Background and related reading
Original Brass Charter teaching, exercises and fictional examples. Background on setting a purpose and observing a task. This course exercise does not establish commercial demand.
Digital.gov: How to conduct a usability test