2learn

Running the session

What it is

A usability session is twenty minutes to an hour in which one person attempts realistic tasks on your design while you watch and note what happens. The moderation is the skill: writing tasks as goals, keeping quiet, and getting the participant to narrate without turning the session into a guided tour.

Why it matters

A session is only as good as its tasks and its moderator. Ask someone to “explore the dashboard” and you learn nothing; help them when they stall and you have destroyed the one finding that mattered. The techniques below are small and unglamorous, and they decide whether the hour produces evidence or a friendly conversation.

Core ideas

Write tasks as scenarios with a goal

Give the participant a situation and something to achieve, in their words. Never name the screen or the button.

Good  "You have moved house. Update where your orders will be delivered."
Bad   "Go to Settings and open the Addresses tab."
Good  "Find out when your last order arrives."
Bad   "Use the search box to find the order."

Three to five tasks is a full session; more than that and fatigue contaminates the last ones.

Say the opening once, and mean it

“We are testing the design, not you. There are no wrong answers. Please say what you are looking for as you go.” Then stop reassuring: repeated reassurance makes participants self-conscious.

Get think-aloud without demanding it

Ask for narration once, then prompt only with neutral openers: “what are you thinking?”, “what did you expect there?”. Do not ask why repeatedly; it produces invented reasons.

Never help, never confirm

Have one prepared answer for a direct question and use it every time: “What would you expect to happen?” Save the explanation for after the session. If they fail, the failure is the finding.

Note behaviour and speech in separate columns

Timestamps where you can. The behaviour column is the evidence; the speech column supplies the quote. Write a short summary the same day.

Behaviour                         Said
0:40 hovers over "Orders"         "where would it be"
1:05 opens "Help and support"     "maybe it's in here"
2:20 phones… (asks if they can)   "I'd just call someone"

Practice

Run three moderated sessions

Write four scenario tasks, then run three sessions with the same tasks and the same opening. Record behaviour and speech separately.

Done when: you have three sets of notes and can name the step at which all three participants hesitated.

Practise the neutral response

Have one person deliberately ask you for help mid-task, and answer only with your prepared question. Note what they do next.

Done when: your reply is the same each time and the participant continues without your help.

Common mistakes

  • Tasks that name the route — you test instruction-following rather than the design; fix: phrase every task as a goal in the participant’s situation.
  • Helping when they stall — the failure disappears and the finding with it; fix: keep one neutral reply and use it every time.
  • Reassuring repeatedly — the participant becomes self-conscious and stops narrating; fix: say the opening once.
  • Asking why too often — you collect invented reasons; fix: ask what they expected or what they did next.
  • Writing the summary a week later — the detail and the tone are gone; fix: write half a page the same day.

Go deeper

Worked examples

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