For example, unsplash.com has an infinite scroll. Let's say we want to change it to pagination. What can be the best questions to ask a user for a usability test?
3
-
10You need not ask user at all. What you need is to define a business goal, set KPI(s) to track it, and conduct A/B test to collect quantitative data. The objective results will show you the interaction pattern, which solves your business goal better.Alexey Kolchenko– Alexey Kolchenko2020-03-13 20:12:45 +00:00Commented Mar 13, 2020 at 20:12
-
Do A/B testing. For a metric use time to complete task.PhillipW– PhillipW2021-08-07 07:55:27 +00:00Commented Aug 7, 2021 at 7:55
-
A completely different dimension of evaluation: Many people consider infinite scrolling a dark pattern - see the first disadvantage listed on interaction-design.org/literature/topics/infinite-scrolling: "Addiction". Maybe you want to take that into account for a responsible design.virtualnobi– virtualnobi2024-07-25 07:58:37 +00:00Commented Jul 25, 2024 at 7:58
Add a comment
|
5 Answers
Pagination allows you to find something later by page it was on. (When you didn't save it, because you didn't think you will need it, you will still vaguely remember which page it was on.) Infinite scroll is more "lazy" - comfortable to use at the moment, but you won't later find anything that you see there.
So do your users like to go back to what they seen on your page or are they using it for a seamless relaxation? You should ask both of this questions.
However A/B test are still a nice option, it can show you better what really works the best for your users. Self reported data are not always reliable and also what works for others can work differently for your site.
Try setting up a test in Useberry using A/B splits or a preference test, where one prototype is forever long (A) and one is paginated (B). Let participants try both options, and then ask them which they preferred more, scrolling or pagination.
You can get 30+ quick responses, and some data to inform your decision.
If you have live pages in an app or website, you could use event tracking to track scroll vs. pagination events to get live data. Mixpanel or Google Tag Manager could help with this.
It all depends on the content provided there. Infinite scroll has pros and cons. In order to user test this you first need to determine how that content is digested by the user. Do they need to find a specific content ? Do they need to create a mental model of where that specific content was ? ( this is hard to do with infinite scroll ). Do they need to revisit that content in relationship with other contents in the same list ?
Do you need to keep users engaged and provide them with endless content ? What is the users end goal and is using infinite scrolling or pagination helpful for them ?
Such questions needs to at least be thinked of before determining what the user wants.
For qualitative usability testing you are looking for findings that identify design features easy or hard to use.
So it will not answer your question directly, once both can be easy to use.
Best way to find which one is better for your context is running a A/B testing and measure other metrics. (Both quantitative)
I am guessing that you have a choice here:
- User interview (Ofcourse a good process but..)
- Hypothesise and validate (We all need fast result)
If you follow the second one, in this case, you may want to segment your targeted users according to what they are mostly familiar with the technology.
Suppose, you are designing a "Food delivery" app. Said that, most of the target users would highly be familiar with e-commerce apps, right? So, currently e-commerce apps in the industry are giving infinite scrolling in the landing pages in a deliberate manner (Trend, they say). Make no mistake, this target users are not going to love pagination.
This process will help you go fast and ship fast, I believe. Yet again, context can be different. Good luck.
