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ProductLesson 2 of 3

Part 1 of 3, 0 done

13 min

Talking to users and reading the data

The data tells you where people give up. Only watching them tells you why. A product team needs both, and five people trying your app can show you more than you'd expect.

Ticket 01 · The guess

How much can five people show you?

In a usability test, you watch one person at a time try to use your product, and note where they get stuck. If you test with just five people, about what share of the problems will you find?

30%
0%100%
Words to know

Spot something wrong?

Tell us what looks off. No name or email needed.

What kind of problem?

0 / 1000

We'll also send this page, the lesson, ticket 1, so we can find it. Nothing else. Privacy

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Sources and every number (1)

Sources

  • Why You Only Need to Test with 5 Users (Nielsen Norman Group, 18 March 2000; averages across the projects the author studied) · Jakob Nielsen, Nielsen Norman Group, 2000

Every number

  • 85%nngroup.com ·2000 · Share of a design's usability problems that a test with five users finds. Jakob Nielsen's 2000 article: an average across the projects he studied.
  • 31%nngroup.com ·2000 · Share of the usability problems one user finds. Jakob Nielsen's 2000 article: an average across the projects he studied.
  • 15 usersnngroup.com ·2000 · To find all the usability problems, test with at least this many users, by the article's model. Jakob Nielsen's 2000 article: an average across the projects he studied.
  1. Lessons›
  2. Inside a business›
  3. Product
  • ·Before this: What a product manager does
  • ·Next: Saying no: roadmaps and trade-offs
Skip to the lesson

ProductLesson 2 of 3

Part 1 of 3, 0 done

13 min

Talking to users and reading the data

The data tells you where people give up. Only watching them tells you why. A product team needs both, and five people trying your app can show you more than you'd expect.

Ticket 01 · The guess

How much can five people show you?

In a usability test, you watch one person at a time try to use your product, and note where they get stuck. If you test with just five people, about what share of the problems will you find?

30%
0%100%
Words to know

Spot something wrong?

Tell us what looks off. No name or email needed.

What kind of problem?

0 / 1000

We'll also send this page, the lesson, ticket 1, so we can find it. Nothing else. Privacy

·
Sources and every number (1)

Sources

  • Why You Only Need to Test with 5 Users (Nielsen Norman Group, 18 March 2000; averages across the projects the author studied) · Jakob Nielsen, Nielsen Norman Group, 2000

Every number

  • 85%nngroup.com ·2000 · Share of a design's usability problems that a test with five users finds. Jakob Nielsen's 2000 article: an average across the projects he studied.
  • 31%nngroup.com ·2000 · Share of the usability problems one user finds. Jakob Nielsen's 2000 article: an average across the projects he studied.
  • 15 usersnngroup.com ·2000 · To find all the usability problems, test with at least this many users, by the article's model. Jakob Nielsen's 2000 article: an average across the projects he studied.
  1. Lessons›
  2. Inside a business›
  3. Product
  • ·Before this: What a product manager does
  • ·Next: Saying no: roadmaps and trade-offs