During a usability test, most people are focused on the main event — what’s happening in the testing room.  Everyone watches the moderator and the participant, eager to see how the product or website performs.  While most usability practitioners are taught to manage what happens in the testing room, what if you’re in charge of managing the room full of people watching the sessions?

For many clients, watching usability testing (i.e., hearing someone criticize their baby) is an emotional roller coaster, especially when the product needs significant rework.  To better manage that experience, it helps to know beforehand what the ride will entail.

We’ve observed that most clients go through a fairly predictable, staged series of emotions while observing usability tests.  Borrowing from Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, this emotional roller-coaster can be compared to the 5 Stages of Grief:  Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and finally, Acceptance.

Denial: “This first participant must be really slow!”
As the backroom lights dim, spirits are high.  The first participant arrives on-time, eager to “do a good job.”  After a few moments exploration, however, it becomes clear the participant has no idea what the site is for, let alone how to use it.

Warning bells begin sounding “aaa-ooo-gah!” in your mind, but the clients seem cheerfully undeterred.  You might even hear comments such as: “It’s just the first session.  I’m sure the other participants will get it much more quickly.” Or, “We’re just getting off to a slow start.  This participant probably hasn’t had their coffee yet!”

During the client denial stage, it’s best to keep your mouth shut.  Begin documenting usability problems and note any flashes of inspiration for how to fix them, but don’t share these ideas with the client yet.  Remember you’ve only seen one session and guard against becoming attached to any early solutions. 

Anger: “Where did you find these people, anyway?  They’re not our target users!”
When the next few participants encounter difficulties similar to the first, anger sets in.  Clients may become accusatory and attack the recruiting process: “Who are these people? They don’t fit our customer segmentation model.  We need to get the right folks in here immediately!”

To cope with client anger, remain calm and address the client’s concerns about the recruit.  Assure them the sample is correct and review screening criteria.  If there is a problem with the recruit, take this issue seriously and consider stopping the study if necessary.  (Here are some tips on how to recruit effectively.)

Most of the time, however, the client is merely venting an emotional reaction to the stress of seeing users fail to connect with the product they’ve spent months—sometimes even years—creating.  Don’t take their comments personally.  Continue documenting all issues and start to look for patterns of behavior across participants, noting common errors and misconceptions.

Bargaining: “What if we just made this button a little bigger?”
By lunchtime, the client has seen enough participants bungle through the interface to know that changes are required.  While everyone’s eating their pad thai, lively discussion ensues on how to fix the problems uncovered during morning sessions.  The suggestions, however, often reveal a narrow interpretation of how much adjustment is needed in the interface. 

During this phase, clients focus on quick-fixes that address surface problems instead of tackling root issues like fundamental information architecture or task-flow changes.  Observers suggest minor tweaks, such as changing the name of a link or moving an element to a different area of the screen.  Somebody usually mentions adding introductory videos or help modules.

To actively manage the bargaining phase, listen and support client design discussions.  Agree that testing has revealed stumbling blocks in the interface.  Even though you may feel the product needs wholesale changes, avoid discussing your ideas.  Instead, advise against rushing into design solutions before all sessions have been documented and analyzed.  Try to re-focus discussion on identifying the major findings instead of exploring solutions.

Depression:  “This is hopeless.  We have no idea how to fix this thing.”
When late afternoon rolls around (post pad thai but pre m&m’s) clients are usually depressed.  They’ve spent the whole day trapped in a dark room watching a sad parade of hopefuls fail to use their product.  The realization hits that the interface needs significant re-work; this realization does not feel good.   

The depression phase is when the real work of managing backroom dynamics begins.  Because they’ve resisted the notion that the product has major design flaws, clients have not been thinking of how to solve them.  Luckily, you have been working to isolate the most critical issues and formulate design ideas all day. 

Assure the client that although the interface has problems, they can be addressed.  Even though session data has not been analyzed and formal recommendations created, attempt to distill the largest issues and discuss them with the client.  If you’ve come up with ideas for how to fix the design, gently float a few of them as “for instance” changes—not as design directive, but as concepts to explore when thinking about solutions.

Unfortunately, the first day of testing often ends during this phase.  Depending on the severity of the problems in an interface, some clients don’t begin to turn the corner into acceptance until they digest the problems overnight and come back the next morning.

Acceptance:  “It needs work, but we’ve got concrete ideas for fixing problems and moving forward.”
By the next morning, most clients have had a chance to digest what they saw during testing and think about some of the highest priority issues.  The denial, anger, bargaining and depression from the previous day have faded and everyone comes prepared to roll up their sleeves and get to work making changes that solve root problems. 

Through all the phases, it helps to put yourself in your clients’ shoes and think about what they’re going through.  Until you reach the acceptance phase, don’t be too sensitive about what you see or hear occurring in the backroom.  It’s all part of the grieving process of watching the old version die to make room for the new.

What experiences have you had as a backroom facilitator?  Do you have additional tricks for effectively managing the backroom dynamic?