Push The Button

During a conversation with a group of testers at an event I soon found myself outnumbered in my views around “enhancements” to the product. I was the only one who saw a Tester’s role as more than just verification.

I was a little amazed at how this group of Tester’s (or shall we call them Checker’s?) narrowed the focus of their roles down to simply following a script, clicking buttons and ticking boxes. They were also incredibly passionate about not suggesting improvements to the process or product. It’s not so clear to me though where the line is between enhancement and bug. It’s not always easy to categorise.

Through sheer persistence and the use of pursuasive language and examples of real bug stories I convinced them that there was more to Software Testing than checking. I also bought them all a drink, but I don’t suspect that had anything to do with it. 🙂 I’m not saying they weren’t doing a good job, far from it, but to not look at the wider context around your checks is to ignore the purpose of the system.

I promised to blog about the things we talked about, and here it is, about a year later than it should have been.

This post stemmed from a point one of the guys made “A button is a button. It’s the same in every system. We test it does what the spec says it should do.”

At a basic level this is absolutely correct, but to look at a button with this narrow focus is to miss the point of Testing (as I see it). The button is just one action, or element, or interaction in a much bigger process or system. It may fire off something or trigger an event but the interesting questions for me are:

• Why would I click the button?
• What are my expectation?
• Do I have any choices around clicking the button?
• Will I like what happens?
• How will you encourage me, force me or convince me to click the button?

And a whole lot more. To ignore the context of the button is to not question the system it lives in. To check the button does what the spec says, is to put too much trust in the spec. So I blurted out a few ideas about testing, which actually cross over in to design. I’ve included as many as I could remember here in this post. Some may be helpful for you, some may not.

  Is the button accessible to all users?

• Should it be?
• Do certain users get more or fewer buttons? Why?
• For example, admin users or permissions based systems.

 

Why would someone click this button?

• Are there other choices?
• What will drive someone to click this button?
• What happens in the grand scheme of things if they don’t click it?

 

How will your users “feel” before and after clicking the button?

• Do you know?
• Does it matter?
• Can you redesign to cater for this “feeling”?
• For example, submitting your tax returns will give your users a different feeling to submitting a newsletter subscription form

 

Is this behaviour monitored or detected or regulated?

• Does this change the button form?
• Does this change the behaviour?
• Who detects it and why?
• Are there privacy issues or data protection concerns?
• What is done with this data?
• For example, audit trails in systems.

 

If your users access the site via a mobile device, does the button still have the same look and feel?

• Does it still do the same thing?
• In the same way?
• Should it?

Do previous choices or data entered alter the button choice and action?

• Should it alter it?
• Could it alter it to get a better outcome for all?
• When does it alter it, and when doesn’t it?

 

Does the button have the potential to do damage and therefore require more consideration or a confirmation?

• Status updates?
• Sending personal details?
• Firing missiles?
• Turning off life saving machines or devices?

Do you need further steps in the process or is clicking this button enough?

 

Is it possible to design the overall page and the button to deter or encourage certain behaviour?

• For example, to eliminate the “Donkey” vote the candidate voting lists are often randomised

Does anything surrounding the button affect the choice or decision?

• Should it?
• Could it?
• Can we affect choice by anchoring adverts or information or other users choices?
• For example, peer review scoring on sites like Amazon

Could the button or process be disabled but visible to encourage upgrades, add ons or extra steps?

• Should it?
• Does it fit with the business model?
• Would your users appreciate this?

Is the action the button performs pleasurable for the user? Or negative?

• Could this process be sweetened if negative?
• Or rewarded if good?

Is the button consistent with other buttons in the process or system?

• If not, why?
• If yes, should it be?
• Would it be better with a different design..to stand out maybe?

Does it matter whether you are the first person to click this button?

• Do you get extra features?
• Do you disable a process for other users?
• Is the outcome clearly communicated?
• For example, one time downloads or data collections.

Can you click the button more than once?

• Why?
• How?
• Does it function consistently?
• How does this affect the system or data or process?
• For example, submitting a form more than once

 

Does the button support multiple users?

• Can more than one user click their own button at the same time?
• At different times?
• At all?

Can you double click the button?

• What does it do?
• Should it be possible?
• Could you deter this behaviour with warnings or informational text?
• For example, some users click hyperlinks twice.

Is the design of the button modern, or old?

• Can it be skinned?
• Does it look old for a reason (functional, to encourage upgrades etc)

Do you need supporting help text?

• Is it obvious it’s help text?
• Can it be on or off?
• Or on all the time?
• Is it obvious the text is relating to this button or process?
• Is the help system being designed against a recommended compliance like the elmer guidelines for form design?

Can you create an emotional attachment when the user clicks on the button?

• Can you get buy in, repeat business or a brand fan?
• Do you want to?
• Do you need to?
• For example, the Like button on Facebook

What action does the button perform and is that consistent with what your users want to do?

• Submit, next, back, details, open, close, print, etc
• For example, the final submission button in a wizard should not be called continue, unless it has supporting text to inform the user what that button will do.

Is there a time limit surrounding the button?

• A limit before clicking or does it start a timer?
• How would this affect the design and testing?

Is the button grouped with other like minded buttons, or dejected and lonely?

• Is the like minded group logical?
• Does it convey the right message?
• Is the lonely button there for a reason..to draw attention?
• For example, all text formatting buttons should be logically grouped, rather than spread across a busy toolbar.

How does the button perform with no supported visuals?

• Text only
• Screen readers
• Accessibility

Are you using colour to symbolise or signify meaning?

• Red for danger
• Green for go
• Are these signs common amongst your users?
• Ambiguous?
• Should you be using colour? Accessibility? Colour blind?
• Do they display well on different monitors?
• If you had no colour could you still use the system?

Does the button actually do what the user expects?

• Regardless of the spec, is the button action logical?
• Are the expectations wrong?
• Is the action wrong?
• Is your oracle wrong?
• Is it by design, fake affordance maybe?

Is the button part of a sequence?

• How is the sequence represented?
• Is the sequence logical?
• Can the sequence be tricked, skipped or broken?
• Is the sequence communicated well?

Does the action of the button mirror actions or features in other systems?

• Will users see a link between systems, for example a status update in Facebook?
• Could you redesign to take advantage of that association?
• Would you want the association?
• Is it worth redesigning a common process, or will the baby duck syndrome kick in

Is the process surrounding the button common?

• For example installers.
• Does the process require much thought or is an almost natural process of unthinking clicking.
• For example, the browser add on tools that are hidden in the middle of a software installer. They work on the basis that you will not read it and hence install the browser add on.
• What could you do to encourage more thought around the process? Make it harder?

Does the button itself represent the action?

• Delete icon, rubbish bin icon, cross, plus sign.
• Are they logical?
• Are they repeated on the same screen adding ambiguity?
• Are the symbols universal to your audience?

If there is a breadcrumb trail, how will clicking this button affect that?

Does the button require data fields to be completed?

• Should the button be visible until all fields are complete?
• Is that clearly communicated?
• Greyed out? Disabled? Button text change? Disappear/Reappear
• When does it validate? Where? How?
• Is it consistent?

Does the button recall previous data?

• What happens when clicked more than once?
• How is the data represented or affected

Is the button generating real time feedback?

• How real time?
• Does this affect performance?
• Is it required?

Does the button work under multiple instances?

• Multiple browsers and/or tabs?

What lies beneath the button?

• Can you glean any further information about the button by using a tool like Firebug?
• Does it have alt text?
• Is it logically labelled and suitable for automation?
• Are there any comments in the code or other clues?

Is the button the final action?

• Does the user need to know anything before they click the button?
• Do they get a confirmation?
• Are they reassured enough to click it?

If the button is part of a process, would it better to push the process through a wizard?

• Will the user experience be better? Less prone to mistakes?
• Will the process be done in one go, or can they save and return?

Does the button need an undo?

• Does the action need a reverse or opposite action?

Is the button multilingual?

• What happens to the button when it tries to show different languages or locales?
• Does it still make sense?
• Does it hold longer text?

Can the user press this button without using the mouse?

• Mobile devices. No right clicks. Etc
• Shortcut keys? Tab order?
• Should they be able to?

Can it be made easier or harder to press the button depending on your objectives?

• Many large organisations appear to be making it hard to find the button which leads the user to the telephone numbers or listings.  Self service is cheaper but is it always better?
• Big red buttons with lots of “click me” appeal
• Button in the middle of the page, or hidden in the top corner.

If you removed the button and that part of the process how would it affect your system?

• Would it make it better?
• Unshippable?
• Un-usable?
• Better?

A lot of these ideas come about when reading about design ethnography and UX, particularly around lenses, but for each one I’ve always been able to relate this back to a bug or “enhancement” I’ve seen in systems I test.

Questions about the bigger process will lead to more test ideas about the button (and the bigger process also). The button is a part of a bigger system, which is operating in a context. I think it is at this level that individual actions start to make more sense as a whole, and you can begin to question who, what, why, where and when.

If you find yourself working in an environment where you’re not allowed to raise questions about the checks you are running and you really want to (and attempts have fallen on deaf ears), then it may be time to move on and see what else is out there.