Join us

Usability Reports

Your constantly-updated definition of Usability Reports and collection of videos and articles. Be a conversation starter: Share this page and inspire others!
88 shares

What are Usability Reports?

Usability reports are comprehensive documents that summarize the findings, observations and recommendations of usability testing. Researchers create them to provide valuable insights into how users interact with a product or service, identify usability issues and suggest potential solutions. Designers can then enhance a product’s or service’s usability and overall user experience. 

An illustration of a usability report.

A simple representation of a usability report, to illustrate the value of such reports.

© Interaction Design Foundation, CC BY-SA 4.0

Table of contents
  1. What are Usability Reports?
  2. Why are Usability Reports Important in UX Design?
    1. What do Usability Reports Show?
  3. Benefits of Usability Reports
    1. Data-Driven Decision-Making
    2. Improved User Experience
    3. Enhanced Product Quality
    4. Cost and Time Savings
  4. What Challenges are involved with Usability Reports?
  5. In Which Contexts do Usability Reports Work Best?
    1. Product Development
    2. Iterative Design Process
    3. User-Centered Design
    4. Cross-Functional Collaboration
  6. Examples of Good Usability Reports
    1. Clear Problem Statements
    2. Prioritized Recommendations
    3. Visual Illustrations
    4. Structured Format
  7. How to Write a Usability Report
    1. Step 1: Define the Scope and Objectives
    2. Step 2: Conduct Usability Testing
    3. Step 3: Analyze the Data
    4. Step 4: Structure the Usability Report
    5. Step 5: Present Findings and Recommendations
    6. Step 6: Incorporate Visuals
    7. Step 7: Implement Recommendations and Retest
  8. Tips to Create and Use Usability Reports in UX Design
    1. Plan Ahead
    2. Be Data-Driven
    3. Prioritize Recommendations
    4. Communicate Effectively
    5. Iterate and Improve
    6. Keep a User-Centered Approach
    7. Reflect a Holistic Understanding of the User Experience
  9. Learn More about Usability Reports
  10. Questions related to Usability Report

Why are Usability Reports Important in UX Design?

Usability reports play a role that’s crucial in user experience (UX) design. When researchers or designers create them—and do it properly—these provide valuable insights into how usable a digital product is for the target audience. So, these reports help designers and researchers spot usability issues and address them.   

Usability reports come from usability testing—that’s when users test a design solution or prototype. The reports present a comprehensive analysis regarding how users interacted with a digital product—like a website or an app.  They also highlight areas for improvement, and they suggest actionable solutions. These reports are an essential means to inform design decisions, validate user needs and ensure a positive user experience. Above all, reports on usability are an essential check to ensure the design team and product manager have a strong sense of empathy with users in the target audience. 

This video explains the importance of empathy for users in design: 

Show Hide video transcript
  1. 00:00:00 --> 00:00:31

    Do you know this feeling? You have a plane to catch. You arrive at the airport. Well in advance. But you still get stressed. Why is that? Designed with empathy. Bad design versus good design. Let's look into an example of bad design. We can learn from one small screen.

  2. 00:00:31 --> 00:01:00

    Yes, it's easy to get an overview of one screen, but look close. The screen only shows one out of three schools. That means that the passengers have to wait for up to 4 minutes to find out where to check in. The airport has many small screenings, but they all show the same small bits of information. This is all because of a lack of empathy. Now, let's empathize with all users airport passengers,

  3. 00:01:00 --> 00:01:32

    their overall need to reach their destination. Their goal? Catch their plane in time. Do they have lots of time when they have a plane to catch? Can they get a quick overview of their flights? Do they feel calm and relaxed while waiting for the information which is relevant to them? And by the way, do they all speak Italian? You guessed it, No. Okay. This may sound hilarious to you, but some designers

  4. 00:01:32 --> 00:02:01

    actually designed it. Galileo Galilei, because it is the main airport in Tuscany, Italy. They designed an airport where it's difficult to achieve the goal to catch your planes. And it's a stressful experience, isn't it? By default. Stressful to board a plane? No. As a designer, you can empathize with your users needs and the context they're in.

  5. 00:02:01 --> 00:02:33

    Empathize to understand which goals they want to achieve. Help them achieve them in the best way by using the insights you've gained through empathy. That means that you can help your users airport passengers fulfill their need to travel to their desired destination, obtain their goal to catch their plane on time. They have a lot of steps to go through in order to catch that plane. Design the experience so each step is as quick and smooth as possible

  6. 00:02:33 --> 00:03:03

    so the passengers stay all become calm and relaxed. The well, the designers did their job in Dubai International Airport, despite being the world's busiest airport. The passenger experience here is miles better than in Galileo Galilei. One big screen gives the passengers instant access to the information they need. Passengers can continue to check in right away. This process is fast and creates a calm experience,

  7. 00:03:03 --> 00:03:31

    well-organized queues help passengers stay calm and once. Let's see how poorly they designed queues. It's. Dubai airport is efficient and stress free. But can you, as a designer, make it fun and relaxing as well? Yes.

  8. 00:03:31 --> 00:04:02

    In cheerful airport in Amsterdam, the designers turned parts of the airport into a relaxing living room with sofas and big piano chairs. The designers help passengers attain a calm and happy feeling by adding elements from nature. They give kids the opportunity to play. Adults can get some revitalizing massage. You can go outside to enjoy a bit of real nature.

  9. 00:04:02 --> 00:04:30

    You can help create green energy while you walk out the door. Charge your mobile, buy your own human power while getting some exercise. Use empathy in your design process to see the world through other people's eyes. To see what they see, feel what they feel and experience things as they do. This is not only about airport design. You can use these insights when you design

  10. 00:04:30 --> 00:04:39

    apps, websites, services, household machines, or whatever you're designing. Interaction Design Foundation.
 

What do Usability Reports Show?

A usability report typically includes sections like a background summary, methodology, test results, findings and recommendations. It may feature visual content like screenshots and video clips, too—to illustrate specific points. These reports present the data and insights in a way that’s structured and organized. So, they let stakeholders understand the user experience—and so make informed decisions for product design improvement. These reports are particularly valuable since they show: 

  1. Usability issues: Usability reports show up specific issues and problems that users encountered while they were interacting with a product or website. These problems can range from navigation difficulties, to confusing layouts or unclear instructions. 

  1. User behavior: Usability reports show how users navigate, interact and engage with a product—like an app or a website. This includes their pathways, actions and patterns of behavior that turned up during usability testing. 

  1. Success rates: These reports show the users’ success rates in completing specific tasks or scenarios. This metric indicates the effectiveness of the design—and how well it supports users as they make their way to achieving their goals. 

  1. Task time: Usability reports give insights into the time it takes for users to complete tasks or scenarios. This metric helps determine the efficiency of the design—and whether users can accomplish their goals quickly. 

  1. User satisfaction: Usability reports include user satisfaction ratings—ratings which researchers obtain through questionnaires or interviews. This feedback helps gauge user satisfaction levels and identify areas that need improvements, such as in terms of a product’s visual design. 

Benefits of Usability Reports

Some key benefits to UX designers, researchers and stakeholders are: 

Data-Driven Decision-Making

Usability reports provide objective data and insights that really inform design decisions. When designers base decisions on user feedback and observations, they can create more user-centered and effective solutions, and gear them around more accurate tools such as user personas. 

Image of a persona, including picture and details.

Good user personas help designers build around accurate visions of their target audience, which can translate to better results when they get to usability test their designs.

© Interaction Design Foundation, CC BY-SA 4.0

Improved User Experience

Usability reports help identify and address usability issues—and that leads to an improved user experience. If designers understand user needs and behavior—and thoroughly so—they can make informed changes that improve usability and satisfaction through a greater sense of empathy. 

Enhanced Product Quality

Usability reports both highlight areas of improvement and suggest actionable recommendations to follow. And when designers implement these recommendations, it improves the overall quality of their product. Another point is that it reduces user frustration and increases satisfaction, too. 

Cost and Time Savings

Since they identify usability issues early in the design process, usability reports help save a great deal of time and resources. To address usability issues during the design phase is something that’s more cost-effective than to make changes later in the development cycle.

Illustration of common deliverables in UX design.

Usability reports are among common—and essential—UX deliverables, and are especially valuable aids to prevent unnecessary costs in product development.

© Interaction Design Foundation, CC BY-SA 4.0

What Challenges are involved with Usability Reports?

Potential challenges for researchers, designers and design teams include: 

  1. Interpretation of data: If a designer or a design team misinterprets the data that comes from usability testing, it can lead to incorrect conclusions and misguided design decisions. This data can be hard to analyze and interpret accurately—and it’s crucial to adopt a user research mindset and thoroughly analyze and understand the data, to avoid drawing conclusions that are erroneous. 

  1. Communication of findings: It can be hard to present the findings and recommendations clearly and concisely. It calls for effective communication skills to make sure that stakeholders understand the implications—and importance—of the usability issues that arise. 

  1. A balance of objectivity and subjectivity: Usability reports have a firm grounding in objective data. Even so, they call for subjective interpretation as well. And it’s essential to strike the right balance between objectivity and subjectivity—to provide accurate and actionable insights. 

  1. Overemphasis on usability testing: To rely just on usability reports may result in a narrow focus on usability issues. The risk is then that a design team might neglect other aspects of the user experience, such as how users feel in their emotional engagement with the design solution or its aesthetic appeal. It’s important to consider a holistic approach to UX design and the right types of usability tests for the project. 

Author and Human-Computer Interaction Expert, Professor Alan Dix explains the connection between emotion and usability: 

Show Hide video transcript
  1. 00:00:00 --> 00:00:31

    So feelings clearly matter in a user interface. That's why we worry about user experience. But depending on the kind of product, the kind of service, the kind of system you're creating, then feelings matter in different ways. So I'm going to distinguish two major ways this can be. So first of all, where emotion is the primary goal of what you're designing.

  2. 00:00:31 --> 00:01:00

    So eliciting that emotion is the very purpose of the product. So think about art. Think about games, entertainment applications in general. What you're trying to do is create a *sense of emotion* in the person. That's the primary goal. Other things are secondary. Now, in order to satisfy that primary goal, you often need to get *good functionality* and *good usability*.

  3. 00:01:00 --> 00:01:31

    So when you’re wanting to choose what movie to watch, you want to be able to find, perhaps, the box set that you know is there and the right episode of it as efficiently as possible. So you still have these fundamental usability requirements, even if the primary goal is emotion. But it's often the things that serve that. So think about again, if you're going to share a picture you just taken a picture of, whether it's a meal you're eating

  4. 00:01:31 --> 00:02:03

    or your cats or whatever else you're wanting to share, the sharing is about the emotional impact that you're wanting to pass on to other people, to your friends, and to your family. However, when you take that photograph, you want a very efficient, slick and easy process to actually get that shared on your social media channels. So, again, although emotion is the primary purpose of what you're doing, you still need the usability and functionality in order to support that process.

  5. 00:02:03 --> 00:02:30

    Alternatively, emotion might be a secondary goal. So the primary purpose might be something that's more, shall we say, business like. It might be about your work. So like I'm doing now, producing this video, it might be about office work, might be using a spreadsheet, using a database, might be about getting your money from the ATM and get the money out of the hole in the wall.

  6. 00:02:30 --> 00:03:00

    It might be about paying using your card in a restaurant. But the thing you're trying to do at that point, the primary goal is to get the thing done efficiently and effectively. However, typically, emotions help. They help in the sense that if you're doing, say, a repetitive job, then being alert is important. You know, this is true whether you're a policeman on the beat and watching out, or a soldier in a battlefield situation.

  7. 00:03:00 --> 00:03:31

    Whether you're driving your car and needing to sort of have a little bit of peripheral awareness. So emotion helps you do that. It helps you keep alert so that you're ready for things. So if you think about online shopping. Some of online shopping is about getting the job done and getting the thing purchased. But there's also an aspect of shopping, this is particularly true of offline shopping. Of when you go into a clothes shop where

  8. 00:03:31 --> 00:04:00

    the actual process of doing the shopping is part of the joy of the shopping. It's harder to do that online, incidentally. But there are some brands where that is the thing you’re trying to do. You're trying to create a sense of identity in the brand, a sense of joy in exploring it. So within the same kind of application area, online shopping, depending on the brand and depending on the person's need at that moment,

  9. 00:04:00 --> 00:04:03

    you might want to emphasize one or the other.
 

  1. Resistance to change: Usability reports may reveal issues that challenge stakeholders' preconceived notions or that call for major changes to the design. It’s something that can lead to resistance to change and a reluctance to implement the improvements recommended. Notions of this sort come from real-world constraints—like budget, the inability to see what the design focuses on ideally, or an array of other matters. 

  1. Limited sample size: Usability reports typically have their basis resting on a small sample size of participants. While this does give valuable insights, it mightn’t capture the full range of users’ perspectives and behaviors. It’s important for designers to think about the limitations of the sample size when they interpret their findings. 

In Which Contexts do Usability Reports Work Best?

Usability reports are at their most effective in these contexts: 

Product Development

Usability reports play a crucial role here. For product teams, these reports bring insights that inform design decisions, guide improvements and validate the user experience. 

Iterative Design Process

Usability reports are particularly valuable here—as they help identify usability issues early on, which allows for iterative improvements and makes sure a user-centered design approach is a reality. 

User-Centered Design

Usability reports are vital in a user-centered design approach—and they provide evidence-based insights into user behavior, needs and preferences. This helps designers—including user interface (UI) designers—create products that really meet user expectations.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

Usability reports make cross-functional collaboration easier—and that’s because they provide a common language and understanding of the user experience. They help bridge the gap between designers, developers and stakeholders—and so nurture collaboration and goals that they share. 

UX Designer and Author of Build Better Products and UX for Lean Startups, Laura Klein explains the value of cross-functional teams in this video: 

Show Hide video transcript
  1. 00:00:00 --> 00:00:30

    Cross-functional teams, unlike silos, have all the people necessary to build a specific thing together. Let's look at an example. Imagine you're on a team that is supposed to build the onboarding flow for a new app that helps connect job applicants with jobs. You can't build the whole thing with just designers. Or with just engineers, for that matter. I mean, you probably could do it with just engineers, but it's a terrible idea.

  2. 00:00:30 --> 00:01:00

    A cross-functional team for this onboarding work might include a few engineers, perhaps some for the front end and some for the back end. Might include a designer, a researcher, a product owner or manager, maybe a content writer or a marketing person. In an ideal world, all of these folks would only work on this particular team. In the real world, where we actually live, sometimes folks are on a couple of different teams and some specialists may be brought in to consult. For example, if the team needed help from the legal department to explain some of the ramifications of a specific decision,

  3. 00:01:00 --> 00:01:32

    a cross-functional team would have a dedicated legal expert they could go to. But that legal expert might also work with lots of other teams. In agile environments, the cross-functional team generally sits together or if remote, has some sort of shared workspace. They all go to the required team meetings. They understand the goal of the team and the users. They're experts, or they soon become experts, on that onboarding flow. Contrast this to how it might be done in a siloed environment. In that case, you might have different people assigned to the team depending on need, which can seem really flexible.

  4. 00:01:32 --> 00:02:00

    Until you realize that you end up with five different designers working on the project all at different times and they all have to be brought up to speed and they don't really understand why the other designers made the decisions that they did. Same with the engineers. And do not get me started on legal. Silo teams tend to rely more on documentation that gets handed between groups. And this can lead to a waterfall project where project managers or product managers work on something for a while to create requirements, which they then hand off to designers who work on designs for a while

  5. 00:02:00 --> 00:02:29

    and then they pass the deliverables on to engineering, who immediately insists that none of this will work and demands to know why they weren't brought in earlier for consultation. You get it. By working in cross-functional teams instead, the people embedded on the project get comfortable with each other. They know how the team works and can make improvements to it. They come to deeply understand their particular users and their metrics. They actually bring engineering and even design and research into the decision making process early to avoid the scenario I described above.
 

Examples of Good Usability Reports

Good usability reports provide clear and actionable insights—ones that drive improvements in the user experience. Here are a few examples of elements that make a usability report particularly effective: 

Clear Problem Statements

Good usability reports clearly define and articulate the problems that users really encounter. The problem statements are specific and concise, and stand on evidence from the usability testing. A problem statement is also called a Point of View (POV) and appears like the following: 

__(User)__ needs to __(user’s need)__ because __(insight)__. 

So, for example, a usability report could reveal that:  

“Mobile users need to have larger buttons because 23% of them accidentally pressed two at the same time.”  

Prioritized Recommendations

Usability reports prioritize recommendations based on the severity and impact of the identified issues. This helps stakeholders understand which problems need immediate attention and which ones design teams can address later. 

A list or chart showing recommendations.

Recommendations clearly capture what to do, so team members can act.

© User Interviews, Fair Use

Visual Illustrations

Good usability reports include visuals such as screenshots or video clips to illustrate specific problem areas. These visuals make it easier for stakeholders to understand the issues and visualize potential solutions. 

Structured Format

Usability reports follow a structured format, with sections that provide background information, methodology, test results, findings and recommendations. This format is something that makes the report easier to navigate and make sense of. 

An image showing an overview.

Usability reports call for a clear structure, so they can transmit important data quickly and easily—as this UXtweak overview shows.

© Daria Krasovskaya, Fair Use

It’s important to note that usability reports can sometimes call for improvements—and the earlier, the better. Ineffective reports often lack clarity. Or they fail to provide actionable insights, or they might show their information in an unstructured way. And if they do have vague problem descriptions, a lack of recommendations, unorganized data or a lack of visual support, their report writers should revisit them—and correct these flaws as soon as they can.   

How to Write a Usability Report

It takes careful planning and execution to make a report that’s well-structured and informative. Here’s a step-by-step process to the report-writing process: 

Step 1: Define the Scope and Objectives

Before usability testing begins, UX designers or researchers should clearly define the study’s scope and objectives. They need to determine the specific research questions they want to answer and the metrics they’ll use to measure usability. 

Step 2: Conduct Usability Testing

Now it’s time to test with representative users and use a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods. It’s vital to collect data on success rates, task time, error rates and user satisfaction ratings. What’s more, it’s essential to record observations, problems and participants’ comments. 

Step 3: Analyze the Data

Designers or researchers now need to carefully analyze the data they collected during usability testing. They should look for patterns, trends and common issues. It’s important to categorize the problems by severity and consider their implications for the overall user experience. 

Professor of Human-Computer Interaction at University College London, Ann Blandford explains pitfalls to beware of in analysis. 

Show Hide video transcript
  1. 00:00:00 --> 00:00:32

    Ditte Hvas Mortensen: Are there some common pitfalls that you should be aware of when your search for themes? Ann Blandford: *Confirmation bias* is, I think, the biggest one: that you think you've spotted something fairly early on in the data, which, particularly if that's something that supports a pre-existing assumption that you had – you know – before starting the study.

  2. 00:00:32 --> 00:01:05

    And so, it's so much easier to spot data that supports that position than it is to spot data that contradicts it, particularly if the contradiction is a little bit kind of *tangential*. So, that's why I kind of emphasize that you have to look explicitly for contradictory evidence in the data because that can be harder to spot. So, you have to ask yourself specifically "What would contradictory evidence look like?"

  3. 00:01:05 --> 00:01:30

    or "What *might* it look like?" You know – "Is there any of that? *Why* might it be there?" So, I think confirmation bias is the biggest. Another trap is there's one participant with slightly outlandish but very engaging and exciting views,

  4. 00:01:30 --> 00:02:05

    and they express themselves in a wonderful way, and you almost start writing the narrative as if that person is the central figure – as opposed to being a slight outlier in the data set. And so, their perceptions and their attitudes and values are given more *weight* than those of perhaps less articulate or less extreme participants. D.M.: Are there any other sort of common problems that you often experience students have when they do analysis?

  5. 00:02:05 --> 00:02:34

    And do you have some good advice for how to tackle those problems? A.B.: I think the big one is the one I've already mentioned – about getting overwhelmed by the data and not really knowing where to start or when to stop; having so many themes and not being prepared to let go of any of them;

  6. 00:02:34 --> 00:03:01

    or having difficulty working out which ones matter and which ones don't. And *data gathering* for some people is more exciting than data analysis. In practice, a good analysis takes longer than data gathering.

  7. 00:03:01 --> 00:03:32

    It takes longer to analyze 10 hours of interview data than it does to gather 10 hours of interview data, *even* when you take into account the time it took to recruit 10 appropriate participants in the first place, which can be non-trivial. But analysis is much more of a solitary activity, whereas data gathering is inherently social. You know – you're interviewing people; you're learning things; it's fun and engaging.

  8. 00:03:32 --> 00:04:00

    So, some people can get quite bogged down in analysis, I think. And it feels like a huge task, and you need to break it down into *small steps* of – you know – "I'll deal with three pages of data today." – you know – or, "I'll do *this* step of coding." or, "I'll do this little bit of stuff." You've got to break it down into manageable chunks.

  9. 00:04:00 --> 00:04:32

    And also, just dive in and *do* some, actually, you know. The longer you leave it – and it's just this pile of transcriptions or whatever – you know, the harder it is to get started and the more overwhelming it can feel. So, I think *feeling overwhelmed* is probably the biggest challenge, and not being prepared to drop themes or not being able to quite see how themes fit together to tell a bigger story.

  10. 00:04:32 --> 00:05:01

    That's of significance for HCI research or for technology design. And going off on a weird tangent in the analysis, and forgetting why you were doing the study in the first place. So, with those, I think the best way to deal with it is to *talk to people about it* – you know – to get somebody else involved,

  11. 00:05:01 --> 00:05:04

    even in just talking through ideas with you.
 

Step 4: Structure the Usability Report

Next comes the structuring of the usability report—and doing it in a format that’s logical and easy to follow. Here, it’s vital to include sections such as background summary, methodology, test results, findings and recommendations. Tables, visuals and examples to present data and illustrate problem areas are invaluable tools for this activity.  

Step 5: Present Findings and Recommendations

Now it’s time to clearly communicate the findings and recommendations based on the data analysis. Researchers or designers should provide specific problem statements—and suggest actionable solutions. It’s important to think about the severity and wider impact of each problem—to prioritize recommendations. 

Step 6: Incorporate Visuals

Next comes the incorporation of visuals—like screenshots and video clips—to make the usability report even better. These visuals help stakeholders visualize specific areas of concern and understand the user experience more thoroughly. 

Step 7: Implement Recommendations and Retest

Last—but not least—it’s time to use the findings and recommendations from the usability report to make improvements to the product or website. It’s vital to prioritize the recommendations based on their severity and wide—or global—impact. Designers or researchers should remember to retest their design’s usability after they’ve implemented the changes—so they can validate the improvements. 

Image showing 3 mobile phones with text and screen color differences.

Issues about accessibility—an often-overlooked but essential part of design—can frequently crop up in usability reports. Design teams and stakeholders really need to make sure that their products are usable for everyone.

© Interaction Design Foundation, CC BY-SA 4.0

Tips to Create and Use Usability Reports in UX Design

Consider the following tips: 

Plan Ahead

Define the scope and objectives of the usability study before testing—it’s crucial. This makes sure that the usability report actually does address the specific research questions and provide valuable insights. 

Be Data-Driven

Base findings and recommendations on objective data that comes in during usability testing. It’s vital to keep personal biases and subjective opinions from getting in the way when analyzing the data.  

An image of a usability report.

The Pratt Institute’s Usability Report on PEN America’s Freedom to Write—a fine example of a thorough, yet readable report.

© Pratt Institute, Fair Use

Prioritize Recommendations

It’s vital to prioritize these according to their severity and impact. So, researchers or designers—or report writers—should address those critical and serious usability issues first. Clear and actionable recommendations should be specific and feasible, and they must have a solid basis in data-driven insights. 

Communicate Effectively

Clear and concise language is critical—the only way to communicate findings and recommendations in the usability report. The report writer should incorporate visuals and examples to raise the levels of understanding and engagement. Stakeholders, design team members, members of the development team and anyone else involved in the design project need a clear point of reference to turn to in a report. It’s also important to tailor the report to the audience’s specific needs and knowledge level. 

Iterate and Improve

Design teams should use usability reports as a starting point for design improvements that are iterative—and it’s critical to implement recommendations, retest and continuously collect user feedback to refine the user experience. 

A diagram showing three circles that intersect in a common area.

The area to aim for with design solutions, and the improvements design teams implement, should be in this spot.

© Interaction Design Foundation, CC BY-SA 4.0

Keep a User-Centered Approach

Usability reports should reflect a user-centered design approach. They should focus on the needs, preferences and behaviors of the target users. A report should prioritize user feedback and make sure that design decisions run in line with user expectations across all aspects—like a mobile app’s information architecture, for example. 

Reflect a Holistic Understanding of the User Experience

Usability reports should consider the holistic user experience. That includes emotional engagement, aesthetic appeal and overall satisfaction. A narrow focus solely on usability issues may overlook other important aspects of the user experience, such as the wider expanse of the user flow and the various touchpoints of a user journey. 

An illustration of a Bootcamp customer journey map.

An example of a customer journey map reveals key areas to watch, to meet user expectations in a design.

© Interaction Design Foundation, CC BY-SA 4.0

Overall, usability reports can be challenging but are highly rewarding, essential parts of the design process. The more clearly they transmit accurate findings to everyone concerned in a design project, the better placed a design team will be to make the best iterations possible, and so ensure a digital product or service that will truly resonate with the target audience. 

An image showing three screens, two of which are mobile screens.

Usability is a core part of design, but it’s important to remember the desirability factor too.

© Interaction Design Foundation, CC BY-SA 4.0

Learn More about Usability Reports

Take our User Research – Methods and Best Practices course. 

Read How to Write a Usability Testing Report (With Templates and Examples) by Xtensio for more in-depth information. 

Consult Usability Test Report – A guide to make and present by Sugata Chaki for valuable insights. 

Read How to analyze and report usability test results by Maze for additional tips. 

Go to How to Become Great at Usability Reporting by Anna Rubkiewicz for more valuable insights. 

Consult UX Research Report by Daria Krasovskaya for additional important points and more. 

Who reads usability reports?

Project managers, UX designers, developers and business stakeholders commonly read usability reports. These professionals seek to understand user interactions with products so they can find areas for improvement.  

Marketing teams also benefit from usability reports, and they use these insights to tailor marketing strategies and raise the levels of customer engagement. The data from usability reports guide teams so they can make truly informed decisions about product design, development and marketing strategies. 

For designers and developers, usability reports serve as a roadmap for them to refine their products to meet user needs better. Business stakeholders use these insights for strategic planning—and so make sure that product development runs in line both with market demands and with user expectations. 

Take our Master Class How to Get Started with Usability Testing with Cory Lebson, Principal and Owner of Lebsontech LLC.

Can you automate the data collection for usability reports?

Yes, you can automate the data collection for usability reports. Automation tools and software track user interactions on websites and applications, capturing data on clicks, scrolls, navigation paths and time users spend on various elements. This technology allows teams to gather vast amounts of data without manually observing each user session. Tools like heatmaps, analytics platforms and session recorders automate the process—and show insights into user behavior patterns and potential usability issues. 

While automation helps to collect quantitative data, qualitative insights such as user feedback and interviews still call for a human touch to understand the context behind the behaviors. 

UX Strategist and Consultant, William Hudson explains the value of analytics in this video: 

Show Hide video transcript
  1. 00:00:00 --> 00:00:34

    We're going to be looking at how analytics  fits into the user experience profession. It's been around for a long time. Analytics have  been around for as long as the web, obviously. And so has usability and user experience. They've been around since before – *long before*, in fact, if we're talking about usability. But the two have really not come very much into contact with each other until fairly recently – I'd say in the last five or seven years,

  2. 00:00:34 --> 00:01:02

    we're starting to have much more interest in analytics from a user experience perspective. And bear in mind that analytics is really quite a big topic and that  there are people who spend their entire lives looking at analytics. We're obviously going  to be skimming the surface somewhat, but from a user experience perspective. So, the kinds of things that we're hoping to get out of analytics, whether we're talking about web  or mobile app – I'm not going to differentiate

  3. 00:01:02 --> 00:01:32

    between the two very much. In fact, Google Analytics treats them pretty much as   equivalent. But the kinds of things we can get out  are largely around the area of behavioral data – which is obviously of great interest to us from a user experience perspective. But we'll also be looking at some of the other kinds of data – typically demographic – which also can be useful for user experience. So, *bounce rates* is a number that is often quoted in analytics circles.

  4. 00:01:32 --> 00:02:01

    It's how *often people appear* at a page on your  website and then *immediately disappear*. So, they've bounced. Obviously, it's very disappointing for  web designers to see that they've got high bounce rates on certain pages; and, of course, it can be a  variety of issues that leads to that happening, and that's really one of the challenges facing us from  a user experience perspective: Is it the content? Is it stuff that directed people to our site without our particularly being aware of it?

  5. 00:02:01 --> 00:02:33

    Is it faulty information? What kinds of things go on? *Conversion rates* – really the queen of statistics from an analytics perspective: Are people doing what you want them to do? That's what a conversion is. Are people coming to your website and buying stuff? Or subscribing to your newsletter? Or voting for your candidate in whatever kind of organization this might be? Those are all examples of conversions. And, from a UX perspective, we tend to think of those as achievement of goals, and

  6. 00:02:33 --> 00:03:01

    there is also the question, which we'll be talking a bit  about later on, of our organizational goals versus users' individual goals; hopefully, those are aligned, but they may not be; and sometimes the analytics can help us with that. *Repeat usage* – how often  people come back; obviously very important for most websites – we don't want people just dropping  in and then disappearing forever. We really would like them to engage with our content in most cases.

  7. 00:03:01 --> 00:03:33

    *User profiles*, *demographics*, *platforms* – these are all the kinds of things that the analytics tools can tell us. And some of this information has been available since year dot in the web arena – information that's passed back to a web server by the browser, for example. But it has become much more elaborate and much more sophisticated of late, especially with platforms like Google Analytics  doing a lot of that work for us. *Search behavior* – this has become a little bit complicated in recent years,

  8. 00:03:33 --> 00:04:01

    mostly because the search information used to be passed in with the request for a page. So, if you went to Google or Bing and you typed in a search string and then clicked on one of the resulting links, the search page would very kindly tell the server what the user was searching for at the time, but for various reasons that isn't happening so much now – some of it for information privacy reasons.

  9. 00:04:01 --> 00:04:33

    So, search behavior is dealt with slightly differently these days. We're not going to go into great detail on that particular topic, but if you're working with Google Analytics, which  is what we're going to be using as an example of an analytics platform, then rest assured that  you can get to the search behavior, but it involves integrating Google's search analytics with the web analytics for your interactive solutions. *User journey* is obviously very interesting from a user  experience perspective –

  10. 00:04:33 --> 00:05:00

    Where are people going? What kind of people go where? How long are they spending at various locations? Does visiting one page or another improve or decrease the chances of them actually converting – buying something or signing up, what have you? Analytics is a really huge field,  and we're going to be just kind of skimming in and looking at some of the highlights there and  trying to understand how it all fits in. So, how this data is collected and reported

  11. 00:05:00 --> 00:05:27

    – what's good about it? What's bad about it? There are inherent weaknesses in some of the data that we're going to  be looking at, and you obviously need to know and understand that. And that is one of the things that  I'm planning to do for you – is to point out some of the really important weaknesses and obviously some of the important strengths, too, but a lot of this data can be very helpful when it comes to locating and possibly even fixing user experience problems.
Video copyright info

Author: Stewart Cheifet. Appearance time: 0:22 - 0:24. Copyright license and terms: CC / Fair Use. Modified: Yes. Link: https://archive.org/details/CC1218greatestgames

 

How long should a usability report be?

The length of a usability report varies—it depends on the project’s complexity and how much data gets collected. Generally, aim for a report that’s concise yet comprehensive—typically between 5 and 20 pages. Be sure it includes an executive summary, key findings and actionable recommendations—and focus on clarity and brevity to make sure that stakeholders can quickly understand and act on the report's insights. To include visuals like graphs and heatmaps can also help convey information efficiently, and allow for a shorter, more impactful report. 

Take our Master Class How to Get Started with Usability Testing with Cory Lebson, Principal and Owner of Lebsontech LLC. 

What formats work best for sharing usability reports?

The best formats for sharing usability reports include PDFs, slide presentations and interactive dashboards. PDFs offer a universal format that’s easy to distribute and makes for consistent viewing whatever the device. They work well for comprehensive reports that detail findings, recommendations and visuals like graphs and heatmaps. 

Slide presentations—using tools like PowerPoint or Google Slides—allow for a more visual and succinct summary of key findings. They’re ideal for presenting to stakeholders in meetings, and they focus on high-impact insights and actionable recommendations. 

Interactive dashboards give a dynamic way to explore data—and tools like Tableau or Google Data Studio enable stakeholders to interact with the data, filter results and drill down into specific areas of interest. Dashboards are especially useful for ongoing projects where data regularly updates. They offer a real-time view of user behavior and usability metrics. 

Each format has its advantages, and the choice depends on the audience's needs, the report's complexity and the intended use of the findings. It can also be effective to combine formats, and ensure that the report reaches and engages a wider audience. 

Watch as CEO of Experience Dynamics, Frank Spillers explains the value of user research in our course promo for User Research: Methods and Best Practices: 

Show Hide video transcript
  1. 00:00:00 --> 00:00:33

    When developing a product or service, it is *essential*   to know what problem we are solving for our users. But as designers, we all too easily shift far away from their perspective. Simply put, we forget that *we are not our users*. User research is how we understand what our users *want*, and it helps us design products and services that are *relevant* to people. User research can help you inspire your design,

  2. 00:00:33 --> 00:01:00

    evaluate your solutions and measure your impact by placing people at the center of your design process. And this is why user research should be a *pillar* of any design strategy. This course will teach you *why* you should conduct user research and *how* it can fit into different work processes. You'll learn to understand your target audience's needs and involve your stakeholders.

  3. 00:01:00 --> 00:01:37

    We'll look at the most common research techniques, such as semi-structured interviews and contextual inquiry. And we'll learn how to conduct observational studies to  *really understand what your target users need*. This course will be helpful for you whether  you're just starting out in UX or looking to advance your UX career with additional research techniques. By the end of the course, you'll have an industry-recognized certificate – trusted by leading companies worldwide. More importantly, you'll master *in-demand research skills* that you can start applying to your projects straight away

  4. 00:01:37 --> 00:01:44

    and confidently present your research to clients and employers alike. Are you ready? Let's get started!
 

What do you do if stakeholders ignore the usability report?

If stakeholders ignore the usability report, first ensure they understand its value. Schedule a meeting to discuss the findings and emphasize how these insights can improve the product, increase user satisfaction and potentially lead to higher revenue or reduced costs. Use language that’s clear and concise—and focus on the most critical issues, ones that directly impact business goals. 

Offer a summary or presentation that highlights key points if the report’s lengthy or technical. Visual aids—like graphs and videos—can also help convey the message more effectively. 

Think about asking for feedback on the report format and content. Stakeholders might need information presented in a different way to engage with it better. 

If the report indicates urgent issues, stress the potential consequences of inaction—like decreased user engagement or negative feedback. This can motivate stakeholders to take the findings seriously. 

Last—but not least—build relationships with stakeholders by involving them in the usability testing process. This inclusion is something that can increase their investment in the results and encourage them to pay more attention to the report. 

Take our Master Class How to Get Started with Usability Testing with Cory Lebson, Principal and Owner of Lebsontech LLC.

How do you measure the impact of changes that designers have made based on a usability report?

Follow these steps: 

  • Set clear goals: Before making changes, define what success looks like. Goals could include to increase user engagement, reduce error rates or improve task completion times. 

  • Use metrics: Identify key performance indicators (KPIs) that are related to your goals. If your goal is to improve navigation, metrics might include the number of pages users visit or the time they spend on each page. 

  • Conduct A/B testing: Implement changes in a controlled environment where some users see the original version (A) and others see the new version (B). This method lets you directly compare the performance of each version. 

  • Collect user feedback: Beyond quantitative data, qualitative feedback from users can give insights into the user experience. Surveys and interviews can show how changes affect users' perceptions—and how changes affect their satisfaction. 

  • Analyze data: Compare the metrics from before and after implementing changes—and look for trends and improvements in user behavior and feedback. 

  • Iterate: If the changes don’t achieve the desired impact, analyze the data to understand why. Use these insights to make further adjustments. 

When you set clear goals, use appropriate metrics and continuously iterate based on feedback, you can gauge the success of your efforts—and effectively so. 

Take our Master Class Design with Data: A Guide to A/B Testing with Zoltan Kollin, Design Principal at IBM. 

What are the essential elements of a usability report?

At its core, the report contains an executive summary, methodology section, findings and recommendations. 

The executive summary gives a concise overview of the report's purpose, key findings and suggested actions to take. It lets stakeholders quickly grasp the report's significance and not need to delve into the details. 

The methodology section details the procedures and tools that saw use in the usability testing, and it includes information on participants, testing scenarios and data collection methods. This section makes sure that the report is transparent and reproducible. 

Findings present the data and observations that arose during testing. They highlight usability issues—like navigation difficulties or unclear instructions. Visual aids like screenshots or graphs often support these insights, and make them easier to understand. 

Recommendations propose solutions to those problems identified. They prioritize issues based on their impact on user experience—and they suggest practical steps to address them. These recommendations guide designers and developers as they make informed decisions to improve the product. 

Take our Master Class How to Get Started with Usability Testing with Cory Lebson, Principal and Owner of Lebsontech LLC. 

What methods do researchers commonly use to gather data for usability reports?

Researchers use various methods to collect data for usability reports, and to make sure they capture how users interact with a product and identify areas for improvement.  

Usability testing participants complete tasks using the product while observers note any difficulties or barriers that these users encounter. This method directly assesses how well users can actually navigate and use the product. 

Surveys and questionnaires let researchers collect quantitative and qualitative feedback from users about their experiences. Users answer specific questions—and provide insights into their satisfaction and areas they find challenging. 

Interviews offer a more in-depth understanding of user experiences. Researchers conduct one-on-one sessions, and ask open-ended questions to explore users' thoughts and feelings about the product in question. 

Eye tracking technology tracks where and how long a user looks at different parts of a product interface. This data helps find out which areas attract the most attention and which ones go unnoticed. 

Heatmaps generate visual representations of where users click, touch or scroll on a digital interface. They highlight the most and least engaging elements. 

Together, these methods provide a comprehensive view of user interaction with the product. They form the basis of a detailed usability report. This report then guides designers and developers as they work to boost the product's user experience. 

Take our User Research – Methods and Best Practices course.

What are common mistakes in creating usability reports, and how can you avoid them?

Common mistakes in the creation of usability reports include to overlook the importance of clear, concise communication and to fail to prioritize findings based on their impact on the user experience. To avoid these, try to follow these guidelines:  

Avoid technical jargon: Use simple language that stakeholders from various backgrounds can understand.  

Be specific and actionable: Instead of vague statements, provide specific examples of usability issues and actionable recommendations for improvement. 

Prioritize findings: Rank the usability issues based on their severity and impact on the user experience.   

Include visuals: Use screenshots, videos and diagrams to illustrate usability issues.   

Summarize key points: Begin with an executive summary that highlights the most important findings and recommendations.  

If you follow these strategies, you can create a usability report that communicates effectively, focuses on actionable insights and guides teams as they work to improve the product's user experience. 

Take our Master Class How to Get Started with Usability Testing with Cory Lebson, Principal and Owner of Lebsontech LLC. 

What are some highly cited scientific articles about usability reports?

  1. Friess, E. (2011). Discourse Variations Between Usability Tests and Usability Reports. Journal of User Experience, 6(3), 102-116. Retrieved from:  

Erin Friess' publication on "Discourse Variations Between Usability Tests and Usability Reports" explores the language discrepancies between usability testing sessions and the subsequent reports generated by novice usability testers. This ethnographic case study delves into the linguistic differences between usability participants during testing sessions and how novice testers present their findings orally in reports. By conducting comparative discourse analyses, Friess investigates the consistency and integrity of usability data as it transitions from testing to reporting stages. The study highlights potential biases in reporting, challenges in data fidelity and the need for broader investigations to enhance the reliability of usability reports in user-based testing scenarios. 

  1. Gray, W. D., & Salzman, M. C. (2009). Damaged Merchandise? A Review of Experiments That Compare Usability Evaluation Methods. Human-Computer Interaction, 25(3), 203-261.   

The publication—by Gray and Salzman (2009)—titled "Damaged Merchandise? A Review of Experiments That Compare Usability Evaluation Methods" critically examines the design of experiments comparing usability evaluation methods (UEMs) in the field of human-computer interaction (HCI). The paper highlights the importance of understanding how small features in experimental design can significantly impact the results and conclusions drawn from usability evaluation studies. By reviewing five experiments comparing UEMs, the authors reveal flaws in experimental design that challenge the validity of conclusions drawn from these studies. This work emphasizes the necessity for researchers and practitioners to carefully consider experimental design to ensure reliable and valid guidance for usability evaluation methods in HCI—ultimately aiming to enhance the quality and integrity of evaluations in interface design. 

What are some highly regarded books about usability reports?

Nielsen, J. (1993). Usability Engineering. Morgan Kaufmann. 

Jakob Nielsen's book Usability Engineering published in 1993 has been highly influential in the field of usability reports. This book provides detailed insights into usability testing and heuristic evaluations. It emphasizes how important quantitative research and data are to support usability methods. Nielsen's work is renowned for its practical guidance on usability practices. This makes it a cornerstone resource for professionals who seek to enhance user experience through effective usability engineering techniques. By combining theoretical frameworks with practical applications, this book has significantly contributed to shaping the usability profession. It remains a valuable reference for individuals involved in designing user-friendly interfaces and systems. 

Earn a Gift, Answer a Short Quiz!

  1. Question 1
  2. Question 2
  3. Question 3
  4. Get Your Gift

Question 1

What is the purpose of a usability report?

1 point towards your gift

Literature on Usability Reports

Here's the entire UX literature on Usability Reports by the Interaction Design Foundation, collated in one place:

Learn more about Usability Reports

Take a deep dive into Usability Reports with our course User Research – Methods and Best Practices .

How do you plan to design a product or service that your users will love, if you don't know what they want in the first place? As a user experience designer, you shouldn't leave it to chance to design something outstanding; you should make the effort to understand your users and build on that knowledge from the outset. User research is the way to do this, and it can therefore be thought of as the largest part of user experience design.

In fact, user research is often the first step of a UX design process—after all, you cannot begin to design a product or service without first understanding what your users want! As you gain the skills required, and learn about the best practices in user research, you’ll get first-hand knowledge of your users and be able to design the optimal product—one that’s truly relevant for your users and, subsequently, outperforms your competitors’.

This course will give you insights into the most essential qualitative research methods around and will teach you how to put them into practice in your design work. You’ll also have the opportunity to embark on three practical projects where you can apply what you’ve learned to carry out user research in the real world. You’ll learn details about how to plan user research projects and fit them into your own work processes in a way that maximizes the impact your research can have on your designs. On top of that, you’ll gain practice with different methods that will help you analyze the results of your research and communicate your findings to your clients and stakeholders—workshops, user journeys and personas, just to name a few!

By the end of the course, you’ll have not only a Course Certificate but also three case studies to add to your portfolio. And remember, a portfolio with engaging case studies is invaluable if you are looking to break into a career in UX design or user research!

We believe you should learn from the best, so we’ve gathered a team of experts to help teach this course alongside our own course instructors. That means you’ll meet a new instructor in each of the lessons on research methods who is an expert in their field—we hope you enjoy what they have in store for you!

All open-source articles on Usability Reports

Please check the value and try again.

Open Access—Link to us!

We believe in Open Access and the democratization of knowledge. Unfortunately, world-class educational materials such as this page are normally hidden behind paywalls or in expensive textbooks.

If you want this to change, , link to us, or join us to help us democratize design knowledge!

Privacy Settings
By using this site, you accept our Cookie Policy and Terms of Use.

Share Knowledge, Get Respect!

Share on:

or copy link

Cite according to academic standards

Simply copy and paste the text below into your bibliographic reference list, onto your blog, or anywhere else. You can also just hyperlink to this page.

Interaction Design Foundation - IxDF. (2018, March 6). What are Usability Reports?. Interaction Design Foundation - IxDF.