Creative Bulletin n.108

This week we ran the Beta Test for Edito, our new tool for the editing of manuscripts. Like any other test, it was full of surprises and food for thought. Thank you to those who dedicated some of their time to help us!! 🙏

🦊🦊🦊 What else we did this week

• Matteo worked tirelessly on BAD’s booklet, that’s our tool  for Business-Aware Design. He wakes up early in the morning to write and he’s determined to finish it in the next few days. Who knows? Maybe we’ll have 2 new products to showcase for the book fair in May! 🤗
• We’re almost ready to launch Fabula Advanced in English! Meanwhile, Andrea threatened to drag Matteo to a recording studio to work on an advanced course on  intùiti (which could be called intùiti in-depth 🔥).

🍏🍏🍏 Methodology: testing

When working on a product (whether it’s an object, an app or a creative tool) it’s always a good idea to build a prototype and run some tests on its usage. It’s the best way to ensure not to build a faulty product or, worst case scenario, some nonsense product. So, there’s no excuse: you have to always run some tests. Always.

What is a test. It’s very easy: you give a product to a set number of users and you observe them as they work with it, or you interview them after they’ve had it for a bit. With Edito, we sent a digital version of the cards and booklet to testers, and a week later we sent a questionnaire to collect the ideas and experiences of the users.

What are the questions that should be asked? There’s no set rule since every product is different. Generally speaking it’s important to ask about what we need to know. Are we afraid that the tool is difficult to use? Let’s ask questions about its usability! Do we have doubts about how understandable the booklet is? Let’s thoroughly investigate the comprehension of the text! Before sending out the questionnaire ask yourself: «Will the possible answers we’ll receive help us understand if the product works or if it needs to be modified?».

How many users do you need? According to the Nielsen Norman Group, 5 users who are in target are enough to identify 80% of usability problems, so you won’t need to recruit an army 😉

Results. That’s the most difficult part. Results need to be summarized and understood, and often you’ll need to read between the lines. If all testers say that the booklet is clear but at the same time it doesn’t look as if they understood the potential of the product, it could mean that it is well written but is not actually that clear!

🐈🐈🐈 What we’ve learned

Besides an extremely negative comment (way too vague and angry to tell you the truth  😅), Edito’s Beta test results were great: high understanding of the text, a positive perception of the product, the usability of the tool was completely recognized. We could have easily closed the survey and popped a bottle to celebrate. But, something wasn’t adding up…

From the answers the innovation of the product wasn’t coming through. Everyone agreed in saying that the product is useful, it is valid and definitely well-designed but… where’s the wow effect?!

🌈 Takeaway: truth hides behind what is not said
Beta testers couldn’t tell us because we didn’t ask. We asked if the booklet was understandable, if it was easy to use and they would use it to edit their manuscripts. And they said yes but… there was no enthusiasm! We almost went crazy trying to understand what was missing and when we saw it, we realized that we forgot to put in the extra mile in the product (that something else that would really make a difference). We summarized the parts one should focus on when editing, true, but we didn’t create a real, practical (and new!) method to use while navigating the analysis of a text. And even that one negative feedback, thinking about it now, was talking about this.

The funny thing is that it was in front of our eyes the entire time. We added a couple of cards to build a system that could help grow both the manuscript and the writer.
Now Edito is wow 🎉

With ❤️,
Matteo and Andrea

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