User research vs user testing

Research: on a rainy day someone cannot go out to buy household goods. They ask friends and others whether an app that delivers on a click would help — enough people say yes.

Testing: they build an early pilot prototype, ask those people to book an order, watch where they get stuck, fix it, and show it again.

As soon as you have low-fidelity wireframes or a simple prototype. Repeat after each major step forward — do not wait for polished UI.

• Prefer the same user group you researched with.
• Minimum about 5–7 people; more is better when you can.
• Give a small, important task.
• Ask them to perform it on the LF prototype.
• Record or observe quietly — note where they pause or fail.
• Improve those spots, then test again.

Scale the task to what you need to learn.

• Small — “Can you get this done immediately?”
• Medium — “Can you try doing this: [name the task]?”
• Large — “How would you like to [achieve this goal]?”

Log each task with size and outcome. Example rows for a shopping app: