From the course: Design Thinking: Testing and Refining

What we test

From the course: Design Thinking: Testing and Refining

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What we test

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- So how do you identify and define what you are testing? The short answer is you define your why. And how you define your why is very important. Now, let's imagine I left that statement as it was without telling you why. Not very useful. Or perhaps you don't trust that statement because you need to know why, right? So let's go back to the design thinking phase of defining the problem. A quick refresher. Defining the problem is a powerful method to frame what you are trying to tackle, or simply put, what you're trying to solve. The definition of a problem, also called a design challenge or problem statement, must be rooted in your observations about your users. It must come from empathy. So let's take an example then. Let's say our product is in the personal finance industry, a mobile banking app, and we observe that several of our customers' problems all have to do with the fact that they couldn't figure out how to determine where a significant part of their income was going each month. So you want to understand in further detail why they are unable to determine exactly where their money is going. Bam, you should be testing an experience with features that help people determine how they are spending their income. So to apply this technique to anything you and your team are tackling, start by going back to, or referencing, your problem statement as a design challenge. It must be one that is rooted in observations you've made from your customers. Now pick out specific features or concepts you should be testing based on that criteria. That is what you will test. To recap, to determine what you should be testing, go back to your problem statement or design challenge. Use that as your baseline for deciding what you think will answer or provide for what your users need. If you are able to accomplish that through your design based solely on user feedback, you have succeeded. If not, use what you've learned to give you a direction for another potential solution that you'll test against the problem statement until you are successful.

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