Process
How to usability test your MVP in five days
A founder's plan for the first round, with no researcher and no lab
A six-step plan for a founder running a first usability test on an MVP or prototype within a week. It covers which flow to test, how many tasks, who to recruit, how to run the session without leading people, and how to decide what to fix. Use it as a checklist for the first round, then repeat steps four to six for each new round. Koji can run the sessions as task questions so you do not have to sit through each one.
Where this appears
What's in this process
- Pick one flow: The path from signup to the first useful result. Start where your analytics show people dropping off.
- Write three tasks: Goals in the user's words, not your button labels. Decide what counts as done before you start.
- Recruit five who match: Recent signups or people with the problem. No friends, no other founders.
- Run it and stay quiet: Ask them to think aloud. When they ask for help, ask what they would do if you were not there.
- Tally per person: One row per problem, one mark per person who hit it. Count people, not drama.
- Fix one thing, test five more: Fix the problem with the most marks on the core task, then run the same tasks with new people.
Use this image
Free to use in your docs, decks and posts under CC BY 4.0, as long as you credit Koji with a link to this page. To embed it, paste this into your page:
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<a href="https://www.koji.so/visuals/usability-test-your-mvp-in-five-days"><img src="https://www.koji.so/visuals/usability-test-your-mvp-in-five-days/usability-test-your-mvp-in-five-days.png" alt="Process for usability testing an MVP: pick one flow, write three tasks, recruit five matching users, run it quietly, tally per person, fix one thing and retest." width="1080" height="1080" /></a>
<p>Source: <a href="https://www.koji.so/visuals/usability-test-your-mvp-in-five-days">How to usability test your MVP in five days</a>, Koji</p>
