During the testing phase, some user comments are simply staggering, such as the user who “never would have guessed” that she should click the Search button in order to perform a search. However, most often user testing reveals problems that make more work for the developer.
This additional work, coupled with the cost of doing user testing leads some developers to try to skip this step. But new methods can make user testing simpler and less expensive. For example, qualitative research often provides the information developers need, even though it’s not statistically valid, and A/B testing helps developers quickly decide between two choices.
