Usability testing services

While user research explores needs, motivations and context, usability testing focuses on performance, answering practical questions like:

• Can users complete this task without help?
• How long does it take them to find a specific feature?
• Where do they hesitate, struggle or abandon the task?

Through usability testing, we gather evidence on how real users navigate the interface, where they succeed, and where they get stuck. This allows us to uncover usability issues before products launch, or identify problem areas in an existing product that may be affecting user retention, satisfaction, or conversion.

Usability testing allows us to design with confidence, because our decisions are grounded in how people actually use the product, not how we expect them to.

The outputs of usability testing are clear, practical, and directly actionable.

Typical outcomes include:

• Identified usability issues: Highlighting friction points in key user journeys that are impacting success or causing frustration.
• Design improvements: Actionable recommendations based on observed behaviour, with a focus on simplifying interactions and reducing cognitive load.
• Validated user needs: Evidence that certain features are or are not being used as intended, helping prioritise future work.
• Improved satisfaction: Iterative improvements lead to a product that’s easier to use, more intuitive, and more aligned with user expectations.

Usability testing ensures you’re not designing in the dark, but instead designing with clarity and purpose, backed by evidence.

One of the most efficient formats we use is unmoderated remote usability testing. This approach allows users to complete tasks in their own time, on their own devices, without the presence of a facilitator. Tools such as UserTesting, UserZoom, or UsabilityHub are used to structure the tests, capture sessions, and provide consolidated insights.

Because tests can be completed asynchronously, this method is ideal for gathering a higher volume of responses quickly. It also makes it easier to recruit a more diverse set of participants across locations and demographics.

• Tests are fast for users to complete, increasing participation
• Results are structured and summarised by the platform
• Easily scalable; more users, more tasks, more variants
• Supports rapid iteration between design sprints
• Cost-effective and time-efficient

While moderated sessions allow for deeper probing and follow-up questions, unmoderated testing offers speed and flexibility. This makes it particularly useful for validating specific interface patterns, navigation structures, or comparing design variations.

For more in-depth insight, we also run moderated usability testing sessions. In these, one of our researchers is present, either in person or remotely, to guide the participant, explain tasks, and ask follow-up questions in real time.

This approach is especially useful when:

• You’re testing a complex or unfamiliar interaction
• You want to explore user reasoning in more depth
• You need to adapt or probe based on what the user does
• Clarification during the session could affect success or failure

Moderated testing allows us to observe not just whether users succeed, but how and why. It adds a layer of richness that structured, self-guided tests can sometimes miss, particularly when testing early concepts, new flows, or nuanced journeys.

While it requires more coordination, the insight it yields can sometimes be deeper and more directly useful for refining designs. This is why we deploy both moderated and unmoderated methods, depending on the specific goals and circumstances of each client’s project.

Usability testing can be conducted at multiple points within the design process:

• Early-stage concepts and prototypes to validate assumptions before development
• High-fidelity wireframes or UI designs to test user flows and visual clarity
• Live products to uncover friction in real-world usage and inform optimisation work

We begin by identifying the key tasks we want to observe, based on the goals of the product or service. From there, we recruit users that match the intended audience, create task scripts, and set up the testing environment.

Once the tests are completed, we review the sessions, extract insights, and prioritise findings. Often, we categorise issues by severity and impact, ensuring design time is focused on the most meaningful improvements.

Where appropriate, we visualise findings in usability scorecards or journey maps to clearly show where users struggled and what actions are recommended.

At Full Clarity, we believe that great design decisions come from real insight, not assumption or opinion. Usability testing enables us to build interfaces that aren’t just visually appealing, but genuinely useful and validated with actual customers or users.

It aligns the product with how users think, behave, and interact, increasing confidence across design, development, and business stakeholders.

Ultimately, usability testing supports a smoother, more efficient product experience, reducing user frustration, increasing task success, and helping teams create digital products that truly work for the people using them.