Is it easy for the beginner?

An interesting experience with my two-year-old last week reminded me of one of the many reasons usability testing is so important: It’s hard to think like a beginner.  

My daughter loves to “color on Mommy’s phone,” which means she wants to use a particular Sesame Street app that contains an iPhone version of a coloring book. I love it, as it has provided me with many consecutive moments of needed concentration. When she wants to start over on a new page, she would hand it over to me for help. One day, I decided to give her verbal instructions so she could learn to do it herself (a very popular concept with her age group).   

Daughter: “Mommy, I want to color Zoe now.”

Me: “Ok, Sloane. What you need to do is touch the star.”

She touches the star which causes the following message to appear: “Are you sure you want to choose a new coloring page? Your coloring will not be saved.”

Me: “Ok. Now say ‘Yes.’”

Sloane:  “Yes.”

The message remains on the screen.  I get a puzzled look.  

If I were instructing a person with a few more years under her belt, the phrase “say ‘Yes’” when presented with “Yes” or “No” buttons would not have elicited a verbal response. But, my sweet daughter is still rather new at all this and takes things a bit literally.

The obvious usability takeaway here is that something that is obvious to you may not be obvious to your user. I’ve written before about the curse of knowledge. The insider information you have about your company, the business environment, your website, and all the decisions it took to get where you are makes you unable to see the world, and your website, as if you were a beginner.  

With usability testing, you have the opportunity to see things through sets of eyes that don’t connect to your brain. You’ll observe users doing and saying things that shock you. You’ll have those moments when you say to yourself, "I can't believe they...

• "can’t find that button.”
• "don’t understand what our company does.”
• “don't feel like we're giving them enough information to act."
• "can’t find the directions to our office, our return policy, our testimonials, etc."

Just like the exchange I had with my daughter; to me, it was obvious what I meant. To her, it was not and she was lost.  Are you losing potential customers because you're not being as clear as you think you are?