Two tests you need to help you evaluate your design assets

What is the best way to test if an asset design is appealing to the user needs and if it communicates its designed purpose? There are two simple tests to answer these questions: the 5-second test and the preference test.

The Five Second Test

They say first impressions matter and while this doesn’t have to apply to everything, it certainly applies to design. Your design is there for a reason and it caries a message for a user. A 5-second test can help you uncover the efficiency and clarity of that.

How it works is that the tester gets to see the object in question for 5 seconds and provide the facilitator with feedback based on their memory, as well as their first impressions. It’s about recalling information and assessing the quality of an object’s communication.

Both quantitative (number of users agreeing on a design versus number of users disagreeing) and qualitative (free text) feedback from these studies is analyzed by thematic categories. The facilitator looks for patterns to assess the final result.

The acceptance criteria for an object to have passed the test depends on the personal benchmark and what you as a facilitator accept as passing. In general, your results should be located somewhere between 75-80% on a scale of 100% in reference to your user pool.

In terms of the number of users you should test with there are no limits. However, at least 5 testers are recommended.

The Preference Test

Sometimes as a designer you just have more than one version of a design. If you don’t want to make a final decision on your own, you can include your users with the preference test.

You want to present them with a selection of objects where you need users help and let them pick one. Afterwards, they need to tell you what they like most about this design to help you understand their decision but also uncover the strengths/weaknesses of that specific object.

It is similar to an A/B test but it has this added level of qualitative feedback added to it. This gives you a better informed human perspective rather than just statistical significance, i.e. data without a face. The same acceptance and user number criteria apply as for the 5-second test.

Which one to use?

You can use both tests individually or in a combination. It really depends on your needs and resources, such as participants, time, technological resources. The 5-second test is usually only used to check the clarity of a design and first impressions, while the preference test can be carried out on all possible areas of usability testing.

Now that you have a short introduction into the core ideas behind both test, you can read up on more details in this wonderful article by the nngroup on testing visual design.