Lab, remote, and guerrilla testing

When doing user research, you could take multiple paths. In this section, we will explore the benefits and disadvantages of each approach. The choice, though, is often a matter of budget. If I had an enormous budget and a generous deadline for a project, I would run both lab and remote user experience testing to reap the benefits of both. Actually, I would just hire someone to do both, probably while petting my cats onboard a yacht floating on warm international waters. On the other hand, if I had zero budget and a deadline for tomorrow, I would ask around in a pub in Bromley and call it guerrilla testing. Real-world projects tend to fall between the two extremes, so we need to choose. Let's take a look at our options.

Lab testing

The oldest and most obvious testing place for rats and users is a lab. The user testing lab is usually a room with a table, where the user sits, in front of a device. There is a camera pointed at the user's face, while another might...