Digital products are successful when they help people solve a problem efficiently. The goal: Build something people want. But how do you know what people really want? It sounds obvious, but it's challenging in practice. Startups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in particular often develop under time and budget pressure. Decisions are made based on gut feeling or internal opinions. The result: applications that are well-intentioned but not user-friendly.
Usability testing offers a structured way to adopt the perspective of real users—systematically, measurably, and concretely. It shows where products really impress in use and where they fail. This brings teams closer to the reality of their target groups and is a crucial step toward improving product quality.
What exactly is a usability test and why is it so valuable?
A usability test is a method for finding out how understandable and usable a digital product actually is. Real test subjects perform typical tasks with an application, for example, creating a user account, completing a purchase, or navigating through a menu.
UX experts observe where misunderstandings, confusion, or abandonment occur—and why. The goal is not to count individual errors, but to understand the mindset and expectations of users. This provides meaningful insights into how digital products are really experienced—beyond internal assumptions.
The Difference Between Usability Testing and Design Feedback
A common misconception is that usability testing is synonymous with opinions on colors, icons, or layout. In fact, it is not about aesthetics, but about functionality, orientation, and task comprehension. A visually appealing interface is useless if people do not understand how to use it to achieve their goals.
Why Startups and SMEs in Particular Benefit from Usability Testing
For startups and medium-sized companies with limited budgets, few staff, and high time pressure, usability testing is not a “nice-to-have” but a strategic tool for minimizing risks and learning quickly in the market.
Digital products that are developed without considering the needs of the target group result in high follow-up costs: dissatisfied users, poor reviews, high bounce rates, and low conversion rates. What is particularly problematic is that these issues often only become apparent once the product has long been live.
Especially in the early stages of a product, usability testing can help to iteratively validate concepts and core functions and optimize the user flow. On this basis, companies can make targeted product decisions that are based on actual needs.
Typical challenges faced by startups and SMEs that usability testing can help with:
- Convince investors: Validated concepts that have already been tested with the target group are more convincing than hypothetical strategies.
- Achieving product-market fit: Usability testing provides tangible insights into the value of features.
- Cost-effective product development: Solving UX problems early on saves costs later on for support, redesigns, and customer acquisition.
Targeted, timely feedback from the target group is crucial, especially in tightly scheduled development cycles. This is because any misstep not only slows down the product, but can also slow down the entire company.
Usability Testing with msg.passbrains: Understanding Target Groups, Improving Products
msg.passbrains combines classic usability testing with crowdtesting to identify usability issues in a realistic and scalable manner. By accessing an international testing community, msg.passbrains tests products quickly and with a precisely targeted audience.
The advantages are:
- Realistic user scenarios on real devices and in natural environments
- Diverse test conditions, e.g. different browsers and operating systems
- Fast, scalable implementation even with limited resources
- Direct feedback from the target group instead of speculative assumptions
- With external testing support, teams get real usage data without having to build an internal UX team.
Crowdtesting offers a practical and efficient solution for developing user-centered products, especially for startups and SMEs without their own UX teams.
These usability testing formats from msg.passbrains provide valuable insights
1. Moderated Usability Test (Remote)
A UX expert accompanies a test person via video call while they use your application. The test person completes specified tasks.
Advantages:
- Direct dialogue and follow-up questions possible
- Observation of reactions, comprehension difficulties, and behavioral patterns
- Ideal for hypothesis validation and iterative improvements
2. Moderated Usability Test (on site in the Usability Lab)
This classic test is conducted under controlled conditions, including eye-tracking technology. It precisely records where test subjects look, how long they linger, and which visual stimuli help them orient themselves—or confuse them.
Advantages:
- In-depth analysis of visual user guidance
- Objective data on the effectiveness of navigation, buttons, and layouts
- Ideal for complex or critical applications, e.g. in the financial sector
3. Usability Test with Think-Aloud Video
The test subjects perform specified tasks and say aloud what they are thinking. They are alone and in their familiar surroundings. This ensures that the feedback collected is particularly authentic.
Advantages:
- Immediate insight into thought processes and emotions
- Recognition of “silent stumbling blocks” such as uncertainty or frustration
- Especially helpful for product teams who want to better understand user intentions
Conclusion: User Centricity Becomes a Competitive Issue
Usability testing is not a luxury, but a necessity. Even technically flawless products lose customers if they are not understood. Crowdtesting in particular allows real user experiences to be captured quickly, cost-effectively, and in a targeted manner.
For startups and medium-sized companies, this means in concrete terms:
- Faster market validation
- Avoiding costly mistakes
- Higher customer satisfaction and user loyalty
Focus on user-centered product development. msg.passbrains helps you with professional usability testing—flexible, efficient, and tailored precisely to your target group.
Learn more now: www.passbrains.com
