What are the most effective ways to communicate usability issues?

Usability issues are problems that prevent users from achieving their goals or having a positive experience with a product or service. As a UX researcher, you need to communicate these issues effectively to your stakeholders, designers, developers, and clients. But how do you do that without overwhelming them with data, jargon, or criticism? Here are some tips to help you present your usability findings in a clear, actionable, and persuasive way.

1 Use a structured format

One of the most common ways to communicate usability issues is to use a structured format that includes four elements: issue, impact, evidence, and recommendation. This format helps you organize your findings, highlight the severity and frequency of the problems, provide supporting data and examples, and suggest possible solutions. You can use this format to create usability reports, presentations, or dashboards that summarize your key findings and recommendations.

Add your perspective

Anurag Tiwari

UI/UX Lead at Everlign
Report contribution
Communicate usability issues by providing clear examples, using plain language, and offering solutions. Use visuals like screenshots or videos to illustrate problems. Prioritize brevity and clarity to ensure effective communication with stakeholders and team members.

Like
Daniel Leibold

The three things that motivate creative people. Purpose, Autonomy, Mastery. If you want to go "fast" go alone! If you want to go "far" go with the team!
(edited)
Report contribution
I Identified several blockers for a process and wrote a report with screen shots and current user expectations. Also highlighted the user expectation for certain metrics. e.g. how many emails should the user receive?, how many process steps would a normal user expect?, how long should the process take? Mention the intended audience in the beginning of the report.

Like

2 Prioritize and categorize

Not all usability issues are equally important or urgent. You need to prioritize and categorize your findings based on their impact on the user experience and the business goals. You can use a simple matrix that plots the issues along two axes: ease of implementation and benefit to users. This way, you can identify the quick wins, the high-impact changes, the low-priority fixes, and the trade-offs. You can also group your issues by themes, features, or user journeys to make them easier to understand and address.

Add your perspective

Janaína Rodrigues

UX Researcher | Researcher Ops
Report contribution
É de extrema importância atuar com pensamento crítico, ou seja, elencar quais são os problemas de usabilidade que foram descobertos e seus níveis de ação, níveis de criticidade e níveis de complexidade. Ou seja, quais são as ações que podem ou precisam realizadas para resolução do problema, qual o grau de criticidade do problema e qual a complexidade envolvida para a sua correção. Esses três elementos serão muito importantes para as conversas com as equipes de design, produto e desenvolvimento para entender como irão conduzir a correção e seus motivos.

Translated

Like
Daniel Leibold

The three things that motivate creative people. Purpose, Autonomy, Mastery. If you want to go "fast" go alone! If you want to go "far" go with the team!
Report contribution
Blockers in user journey are important and should be marked as such with high-priority. If a blocker can be solved by the user itself (e.g. request another workflow) prioritize according to KPI (time, costs, risk).

Like

3 Use visuals and stories

Usability issues are not just numbers or words. They are real experiences that affect real users. To communicate them effectively, you need to use visuals and stories that illustrate the problems and the emotions behind them. You can use screenshots, videos, quotes, personas, scenarios, or user journeys to show the context, the pain points, and the opportunities for improvement. You can also use metaphors, analogies, or comparisons to make your findings more relatable and memorable.

Add your perspective

Daniel Leibold

The three things that motivate creative people. Purpose, Autonomy, Mastery. If you want to go "fast" go alone! If you want to go "far" go with the team!
Report contribution
Start simple and use a screenshot-tool and highlight potential issues (e.g. expected drop-down values). Explain the screenshot in your report.

Like

4 Tailor your message

Different audiences have different needs, expectations, and preferences when it comes to usability issues. You need to tailor your message to suit your audience and their goals. For example, you might use more data and metrics for executives, more examples and solutions for designers, more details and specifications for developers, and more feedback and validation for clients. You also need to consider the tone, style, and format of your communication, and use the appropriate language, terminology, and visuals.

Add your perspective

Daniel Leibold

The three things that motivate creative people. Purpose, Autonomy, Mastery. If you want to go "fast" go alone! If you want to go "far" go with the team!
Report contribution
When you have a long report for business people consider to have a management summary at the top with problem summary and potential solutions. If possible add KPIs (e.g. expected time to finish the process). Also highlight the target audience for the user process (e.g. developers/engineers).

Like

5 Involve and collaborate

Communicating usability issues is not a one-way process. It is a dialogue that requires involvement and collaboration from all the stakeholders. You need to involve them early and often in your research process, and solicit their input, feedback, and ideas. You also need to collaborate with them to define the problem, explore the alternatives, and implement the solutions. By doing so, you can build trust, rapport, and buy-in, and ensure that your usability issues are addressed effectively.

Add your perspective

Janaína Rodrigues

UX Researcher | Researcher Ops
Report contribution
Um fator que pode contribuir com o envolvimento, entendimento e visibilidade de outras pessoas com problemas de usabilidade é entender como organizar os argumentos que contribuem com a visão geral e impacto do possível problema de usabilidade. Uma maneira de realizar isso é destacar por exemplo, quais comportamentos padrões podem ser impactados com o problema. Você pode associar comportamentos já entendidos com base em pesquisas realizadas ou até mesmo reforçar argumentos com informações da psicologia comportamental aliada a experiência.

Translated

Like
Daniel Leibold

The three things that motivate creative people. Purpose, Autonomy, Mastery. If you want to go "fast" go alone! If you want to go "far" go with the team!
Report contribution
Keep to the facts. Be constructive. Use neutral language. Explain why you have an issue. Share your findings with colleagues and incorporate their feedback.

Like

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

Add your perspective

What are the most effective ways to communicate usability issues?

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 Use a structured format

2 Prioritize and categorize

3 Use visuals and stories

4 Tailor your message

5 Involve and collaborate

6 Here’s what else to consider

User Research

Rate this article

Thanks for your feedback

More articles on User Research

More relevant reading

What are the most effective ways to communicate usability issues?

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 Use a structured format

2 Prioritize and categorize

3 Use visuals and stories

4 Tailor your message

5 Involve and collaborate

6 Here’s what else to consider

User Research

Rate this article

Thanks for your feedback

Explore Other Skills