What it is

Moderated usability testing with five to eight target users. Each session 45-60 minutes; we recruit the participants, run the moderation, record the sessions, and produce a findings deck plus full transcripts. Where a heuristic audit shows what an expert thinks is wrong, usability testing shows what real users actually do.

Why five users (the famous Nielsen number)

Nielsen Norman Group's 1994 research established that five users surface roughly 85% of the major usability issues on a typical interface — beyond five, you get diminishing returns per user. We sometimes go to eight when we want better statistical confidence, when the site has multiple distinct audience segments, or when accessibility testing requires participants with disabilities (where small-N matters more).

What you get

Test plan. Recruitment criteria for participants, task scenarios, success metrics. We agree this with you before recruiting.
Recruited participants. 5-8 target users matched to your audience criteria. Recruited via our supplier network or — if you have a customer base — your own list.
Recorded sessions. Screen + audio + face-cam recordings of each session, retained for 90 days post-engagement.
Top-ten findings deck ranked by severity and frequency-of-occurrence.
Full transcripts with timestamps so you can search for specific moments.
Recommendation report. What to fix, in what order, with confidence levels.
Live findings session with your team — usually the highest-impact part of the engagement, because watching real people stumble on your interface is the only thing that genuinely shifts internal opinion.

When to commission this

You've completed a heuristic audit and want to validate or extend the findings with real users.
A specific task flow (signup, checkout, search, complex form) is failing and you need to know exactly where and why.
Pre-launch validation on a new design before it ships.
Post-launch validation when analytics show drop-off but not the cause.
Accessibility-specific testing with participants who use assistive technology — this is the gold standard and goes beyond what an automated WCAG audit can cover.

Recruitment

Recruitment is half the project. We work with established Irish recruitment partners and our own network. Typical recruitment criteria: age band, technical-confidence range, target-customer profile (e.g. "Irish small-business owner currently looking for an accountant"), assistive-technology user (where the test plan calls for it).

Participant incentives are paid (typically €60-100 per session) and budgeted into the engagement. We do not run "free" panels — the quality of feedback degrades sharply.

Engagement shape

4-6 weeks end-to-end:

Week 1 — kick-off, test plan, recruitment criteria agreed
Weeks 2-3 — recruitment
Week 4 — sessions run (usually 2-3 days, back-to-back)
Week 5 — analysis & report drafting
Week 6 — live findings session, final report delivery

What happens after

Findings flow into either internal remediation, a redesign brief, or a continuation engagement with our sister studio digitaldesign.ie for the implementation work.

Usability Testing with Real Users