10 Tips for Hallway Usability Testing in Product Development

What is hallway usability testing?

Usability testing tools and techniques are essential for improving the user experience of your digital product – whether you’re designing a brand-new product from scratch or improving the user experience of an existing application or website. One of these tools and techniques is hallway testing, also known as guerrilla testing or corridor testing.

In its simplest form, hallway usability testing involves inviting colleagues, friends, or random individuals to use and test your product. The name comes from the idea of getting people to do this as they pass you ‘in the hallway’ but let’s not be too literal, hallway testing can be done in any public space – coffee shops, shopping malls, or in the office… wherever there are potential users who may be able to spare a few minutes to give you some feedback.

What hallways testing is NOT?

As we’ve said, it’s not necessarily in a hallway! Nor is it a replacement for more formal usability testing. Hallway testing is a useful part of your testing strategy; it is not a whole strategy in itself. This is partly because hallway testing does not result in a detailed or thorough picture of users’ responses to your product. It is, however, a useful snapshot when combined with other, more in-depth testing methods.

Why should you conduct hallway testing?

Apart from engaging with random members of the public, some of the ‘hallmarks’ of hallway testing are that it is fast, informal, cheap, straightforward, and can tell you how your product will fare with a wider audience. Put simply, a hallway usability test gets your product out of a development environment and into the real world. Think of it as a kind of testing exercise where you run your digital product past a random sample group of users.

Advantages of hallway testing

The pros of using hallway testing as a feedback-gathering technique include:

• Speed – it’s informality means hallway testing can be quick to set up, and gather feedback from a wide range of people in a short time.
• Cost – hallway testing is a low-budget option.
• A good way to validate (or not) your base assumptions.
• The lack of advance warning for the ‘test subjects’ make it a good test of whether your UX is intuitive or not.
• It can highlight key areas for further, more in-depth testing.
• It fits with Agile ways of working – incremental improvements can be tested quickly and easily as part of an iterative approach.
• It is sometimes one of the only methods of usability testing when you and your team do not have direct access to real users, in particular due to clients’ restrictions.

You might be also interested in the article:

How to avoid product mistakes using hypothesis validation?

Limitations of hallway testing

On the other hand, to get the best from your guerrilla testing, it’s as well to be aware of what it does not do:

• It’s quick and that means you spend relatively little time with each person, limiting the product aspects that you can test.
• Its random nature of participant selection means you cannot guarantee that the people you invite to take part are in your product’s target audience or user group.
• Stakeholders may not be so convinced by the results of the exercise if it is your only UX testing method.
• When inviting colleagues or individuals you know personally, you risk potential biased feedback based on personal relationships or particular workspace-related habits.

Tips for carrying out an excellent hallway testing exercise

If you want to get the most out of your guerilla testing, some preparation and planning is needed. Consider the following pointers…

1. A clear goal – Hallway testing for UX usually involves very limited time with each test subject (let’s say, 10 to 15 minutes on average?) It helps to have a clear idea of what you aim to achieve in that time. Simply asking, “What do you think of this product?” isn’t enough. Do you want them to find a specific element of a website? Make a purchase? Log in? Specific tasks = specific feedback.
2. Prepare your opening pitch – Remember that none of the people you stop in the ‘hallway’ were planning on testing a digital product today. And people tend to be busy. You need to clearly explain what you want from them in a way that will engage their interest. Don’t be afraid to offer an incentive for them to give up their valuable time (if you’re in a coffee shop, offer to buy their coffee!)
3. Ask a variety of people – Diversity of input is important, but remember that diversity isn’t always visible. As well as asking people of varying ages, genders, ethnicities and cultures to participate, consider conducting the exercise in a variety of locations.
4. Check they have enough time – Be specific about how long the test will take, and then check that they have the time available. If they suddenly rush off halfway through the test, you’ve gained nothing.
5. Don’t overrun – Equally, make sure you don’t run over time – if you promise them it won’t be more than 10 minutes, 10 minutes is all you have.
6. Be part of a team – At least run your hallway tests with a partner. One of you could be recruiting test subjects, explaining the process, buying the coffee, etc. while the other is running a test, taking notes, and gathering feedback. Another good practice is dividing yourselves into the roles of facilitator, who will conduct the interview, and secretary, who will take notes.
7. Use standard tasks/questions – If you’re asking everybody the same questions, it will be easier to collate and analyze the answers. By all means, ask some extra follow-up questions if it seems valuable, but don’t get distracted or knocked off course.
8. Don’t invite too many people – After around five interviews, you’ll probably notice the same feedback issues coming up. For a single hallway testing session, aim to test with around 8-10 people; allowing for a few non-ideal subjects (who are definitely outside of your target audience) you should get a solid five sessions with useful and usable input.
9. Record the feedback – Okay, this sounds obvious but how will you keep a record? Depending on what you’re testing, where, and with who, you might take notes on a tablet, record the session (just audio or full video), or just equip yourself with a pen and paper.
10. Debrief – After your hallway testing session, always consider how it could have been done better. With your hallway testing colleague or team, discuss what went well and what could be improved. This is especially useful for the first in a series of hallway usability testing sessions (though beware of making changes to later sessions that mean the results of session #1 cannot now be collated with the rest).

You might be also interested in the article:

Why build digital products based on user research?

Hallway usability testing for UX

At Boldare, we believe that usability testing is one of the most valuable tools when it comes to developing a great user experience. Hallway usability testing can be an excellent option because you’re engaging directly, face to face with users, observing their experience as they use your design in a natural environment. Hallway testing is not a replacement for other testing tools and techniques, but it is a highly useful addition to your strategy, gathering actionable external feedback and input to your digital product design process.