User Testing of Language and Content for Producers

As a product owner you are responsible for creating the content that describes your service in the portal. The Platform team can help you with guidance on how to write content that the target audience understands, but we strongly want the portal to become as self‑service as possible over time. Therefore we have created a guide for how teams can test themselves that the content and language produced in the developer portal resonate well with the readers—that is, the target audience.

Testing content gives you an early indication of whether something isn’t working or feels challenging. By conducting user tests you, as a producer, learn exactly what is difficult for the user, and you receive feedback that can improve the overall user‑experience quality.

Get Started Testing Language and Content with Real Users

1. What are you testing?
   Which pieces of content do you want to test? Do you want to test everything, or focus on specific sections? If there is a lot of content, it can be wise to split the testing into several rounds so it doesn’t become overwhelming for either the participants or your team.

2. Who are you testing on?
   Are you writing for developers, project managers, or both?

3. Recruit test participants
   Do you know a product owner or developer who isn’t familiar with what you want to test? Involving someone from the target group who hasn’t seen your content before gives you fresh eyes that can provide feedback on both wording and substance.

4. Plan the testing

   • Allocate enough time for each participant. A user test usually takes longer than you expect.
   • Write down the questions you want answers to. Avoid leading questions!
   • Decide where the test will take place. Ideally you can observe the participant’s screen so you see exactly where they are in your content. Sit next to them in their own workspace, or watch their screen via Teams screen‑sharing or in a meeting room.
   • Bring one or more colleagues from the team. Having several observers is useful: one can focus on asking questions while another takes notes.

5. Conduct the test

   • Introduce your service. It’s important not to give the impression that the participant is being tested—the content is what’s being evaluated, not the person.
   • Run through the questions and/or tasks: ask open‑ended questions such as “Now that you’ve seen …, what do you think?”. If the participant gets stuck, follow up with “What happened just now?” and “What did you expect to happen?”.
   • End with a quick wrap‑up. After all questions have been asked, get a brief summary from the participant. Example prompts: “What do you think of the solution you just tested? What did you like? What didn’t you like?”

6. After the test
   When the user testing is finished, it’s helpful for the whole team to analyse the observations together.

   • How serious are the consequences of the problems or errors for the user? Are they minor cosmetic issues, or so severe that participants can’t complete the tasks?
   • Next steps: The team should assess whether the problem is significant enough to require a fix.

Tips for Testing

• Keep an eye on whether the content is easy for the user to skim and locate the relevant information.
• Ensure users don’t hesitate and that they understand the words and phrasing.
• Verify that users can find the information they need to accomplish the task on the first try.
• Ask whether users perceive the tone as welcoming.
• Make sure the text is accessible to everyone who will read it, including people who use screen readers, have cognitive challenges, or do not have Norwegian as their first language.