Testing

The testing of concepts and prototypes form a major part of the Develop stage

Some companies use particular principles to guide their testing of products. For example, Xerox tests its products with Six Sigma principles in mind. The basic methodology consists of a number of steps that are aimed at checking that the design is consistent with user needs and corporate strategy, checking product capabilities, requirements and the ability to meet these, and optimising the design to combine these two. In fact, the Six Sigma process overall can be said to include a lot of what happens in general during the Develop stage, not just the testing phase.

Essentially the methods of testing used rely heavily on traditional market research methodologies, and in most cases testing is carried out with consumers through in situ observation, focus groups and other techniques. Generally the concept is well developed and near final before being tested with users. Whirlpool carries out simulated and real-life testing of its products with consumers in relevant market and audience groups. BSkyB will field test its products, such as set top boxes, in people’s homes and gather feedback over a period of time.

In the development of Office 2007, Microsoft observed 200 users interacting with the new user interface over more than 400 hours. Virgin Atlantic Airways, meanwhile, invited a selection of frequent fliers to come in and sleep overnight in its Upper Class Suite prototype chairs. 

There is similarly a tendency in some companies to self-test a product. This was observed in companies like Yahoo! and Microsoft. Again, Microsoft’s designers and developers engaged in the principle of ‘eat your own dog food’, turning the project team (including designers, researchers, developers and programmers) into users and requiring them to use the beta product and report back on issues or amendments needed.