Design · Core
Test a prototype with users
Watching real users try a prototype shows you what works before anything is built. Small, repeated rounds of testing are cheaper and more useful than one big study.
About 5-10 daysEvergreenLast reviewed 4 November 2026
Who this applies to
- Skills it builds
- Design and user experienceDiscovery and research
- PM types
- All
- Product types
- All
- Starting points
- All
- Ways of working
- All
- Experience
- All
- Size of organisation
- All
Steps, by experience
Beginner (under 1 year)
- Agree what you want to learn from this round, for example 'Can people find out whether they are eligible?'. Keep it to two or three questions.
- Ask your designer for a prototype that is just real enough to test those questions. It can be paper, clickable screens or a coded prototype.
- Write 3 to 5 realistic tasks based on what users actually need to do. Do not give away the answer in the wording.
- Recruit about 5 people from your main user group. If you have very different groups, use 3 or 4 from each.
- In each session, ask people to think aloud while they try the tasks. Watch and listen. Do not help unless they are completely stuck.
- Afterwards, list the problems you saw and how serious each one is. Agree changes with the team, update the prototype and test again.
Intermediate (1 to 4 years)
- Set two or three learning goals and build a prototype only as real as those goals need.
- Run moderated sessions with about 5 users per group, using realistic tasks.
- Rate the problems found by severity and agree design changes with the team.
- Plan the next round, so you test that the fixes worked.
Experienced (5+ years)
- Set learning goals, and match the prototype's fidelity to them.
- Test with about 5 users per distinct group, using realistic, neutral tasks.
- Rate issues, agree changes and book the next round.
- Confirm with engineering that the preferred design is feasible.
Who can do this
Owner: Product manager
Can be delegated to
- UX Designer: Build the prototype and update it between rounds
- User Researcher or UX Designer: Recruit participants, write the tasks and moderate sessions
- Content Designer or UX Designer: Write the words in the prototype and check they make sense to users
- Frontend Engineer or Tech Lead or Architect or Backend Engineer: Check the design is feasible and flag anything costly to build
Reviewed by: Tech Lead, User Researcher
Tool examples
- Figma
- Link frames into a clickable prototype and share a view-only link for remote sessions. Keep a page for each test round, so you can compare versions.
- Miro
- Run a quick team debrief straight after each session: one sticky note per issue, then group by screen.
- Confluence
- Keep a page per round with the goals, tasks, issues found and decisions made.
- Claude
- Paste your draft tasks and ask whether any of them give away the answer or use your internal jargon.
Definition of done
- At least one round tested with real users from the target group
- Issues recorded and rated by severity
- Design changes agreed and made
- Preferred design judged feasible by engineering
Common pitfalls
- Testing with colleagues instead of real users
- Helping participants through the task, which hides the problems
- Running one large study instead of several small rounds
If you lead the team
What good looks like: Teams test prototypes with real users in small, repeated rounds before building.
Ask your PM
- What did users struggle with, and what did we change?
- How many rounds have we run?
Warning signs
- Testing happens once, too late to change much.
- Only colleagues have tried the prototype.