The project started with the preparation of an expert audit of an existing software prototype. The solution initially in place was analyzed from the usability side, the informational architecture side and all other key functionalities.

The expert audit is a required stage that defines which areas of the product are in need of improvement and to prioritize elements for testing and redesign. Upon completion of the audit the client was provided with a report containing a summary of redesign recommendations and suggestions for user testing interviews.

Once the area for testing had been defined, the preparation of user testing scenarios was started. The main goal of preparing scenarios is to structure the process of the interview to accomplish the end result. This helps a respondent to engage with the process and a facilitator to clearly communicate what is expected of them during the test.

At the same time, one of the biggest challenges in the project came up - the process of looking for subjects for user testing. We used various channels to find these subjects - direct contact from the client, engineers from previous unrelated user testing, Sales Navigator and contact with internal engineers.

We started our first interviews with three internal engineers from the client’s team and received initial feedback that was very helpful for the initial design iteration. I had prepared a summary report that summarized all key engineers' suggestions and usability issues and the UX designer used this information for redesigning the prototype.

The next step was to look for and contact the appropriate profiles of engineers via Sales Navigator and email to request that they join our user testing interview to help us understand the needs of their company and assess how essential the tool to be tested would be in their organization.

We organized several interviews and tested the prototype with engineers from various companies all over the world. After each user test we received valuable information that helped us and the client understand how people work and what they need to accomplish different tasks.

The main outcome for us and for the client - we found out whether the market really needed this tool and whether the client needed to continue to improve the tool and invest thousands or even millions of dollars and months of work into the development process.

The central concept and the business value of the tool were clearly comprehensible and aided in structuring processes and simplify communication in the organizations. As engineers and companies want to automate their work and to minimize the use of manual processing and analysis of data, the client's solution was focused more on providing most of the data manually and failed to meet all the requirements of his clients.

This case study is another great example of the key value of user research and user testing. Investing your money and time in these activities at the beginning of your project before starting development will save you both money and time in the long run.

That’s why I always insist on organizing user research and testing, which is why it is always worth spending the client's money and time on this.