Ask the Experts on User Testing

User testing experts Liezl van Zyl and Annie Burger-Boshoff shared practical strategies for effective user testing — covering card sorting, cloze testing, participant recruitment, and how to track real-world impact.

  • February 26, 2025
Liezl van Zyl and Annie Burger-Boschoff in rounded frames

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Is a "natural person" someone without makeup? Is online shopping designed to help you hide your purchases from your spouse?

User testing experts Liezl van Zyl and Annie Burger-Boschoff have heard so many surprising ways audiences experience the world and they shared it with us our first webinar of 2025.

The discussion was a rich overview of user testing best practices with unique insights and experiences. They discussed practical strategies for effective user testing, how to approach testing with clear goals in mind, emphasizing the importance of understanding what you want to achieve and how the results will be used. They discussed practical techniques such as card sorting to understand how users naturally organize content and cloze testing to measure how well readers comprehend the text. They also addressed the importance of using real-world data to track the impact of improvements, like monitoring call center statistics to see if user queries have decreased.

Recruiting the right participants can be challenging, and the speakers stressed the need to avoid using colleagues or allowing users to self-select, as this can introduce bias. Whenever possible, involving external recruitment companies ensures a more neutral and reliable testing process. They also highlighted the need to adapt methods when dealing with diverse audiences, including those who may not be digitally literate.

Guests

Liezl van Zyl

Information designer, Hey Plain Jane

Annie Burger-Boschoff

Plain language practitioner, researcher and teacher.

Topics

Event Host

Nadja Green

PLAIN Professional Development Chair