Usability testing (also known as user testing) is one of the foundational methods that we as UX researchers, use to understand how our end users interact with the products and services we are researching. It’s also one of my personal favorites. In my UX career, I’ve written, reviewed, or moderated hundreds, likely more than a thousand, usability tests. With all of that experience, there is one tip that I always share first when teaching someone how to write a usability test or giving advice to improve existing tasks: the structure of Character plus Situation plus Command.
On a very simple level, a character tells the participant who they are, the situation tells them why they are doing something, and the command tells them what to do. I find that having a good structure like this not only makes it easier for me to simply fill in the pieces but also makes my tasks better and easier for participants to understand and follow. So, let's break down each of the pieces.
Let’s tie it all together with an example that calls out each piece of this structure.
You are paying some bills and want to see if you have enough money in your account to pay them all or if you need to pay some in a few days after you get your paycheck. Using the bank's website, tell me how much money you have in your account.
Character - “You.” We do not need to be more specific in this instance since we are not testing with a very specialized user group and we can be reasonably certain that paying bills is a nearly universal experience that our participants can relate to and a scenario that they can imagine themselves in.
Situation - “[You] are paying some bills and want to see if you have enough money in your account to pay them all or if you need to pay some in a few days after you get your paycheck.” The situation tells the participants what they are doing and why they are doing it. In this case, do I have enough to pay all my bills now, or do I need to wait for my paycheck to come in?
Command - “Using the bank's website, tell me how much money you have in your account.” From this statement, it should be clear to the participants what they need to do and when they have completed the task. You’ll notice that I did tell the participant a little bit of the “how” in this case by telling them to use the bank’s website. This is because I’m researching the website and not the bank’s interactive phone system, which would be another way the participant could get their balance, but not what I’m trying to learn about right now. There is nuance here. It’s okay to give a little of the “how” when you’re testing a specific feature and need to see how the participant interacts with it.
To wrap things up, tasks are better when they follow the Character + Situation + Command structure. Not only is it easier to write tasks when you just have to fill in the individual pieces, but it also is easier for participants to understand as the structure clearly lays out all the information they need to know. The next time you are working on a usability test, I challenge you to use this structure for your tasks and see how much better your tasks become!
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