Service Design model
TESTING
Introduction – What is this phase?
Once the prototypes are ready, it is time to test them with users and stakeholders. Testing helps to find out how users experience services and products, and what users think of them, what are the flaws, what works, what needs to be improved or changed, are services user-oriented and intuitive, and what is complicated. The information obtained from testing is used for making corrections to the service or product prototype to finalise it.
Sometimes it is necessary to organise more than one round of testing as all weaknesses may not show up during one testing round, or new changes, made based on the previous testing, also need to be tested, or a service needs to be redefined. Sometimes, based on the testing results, it is necessary to go back to the previous phases. It is also usual to first test rough prototypes and later more refined prototypes.
Why is it important for cultural and creative sector?
Testing offers an opportunity to trial a service and its functionality and user-orientation during the development phase instead in real service delivery situations. Thus necessary corrections can be made and weaknesses eliminated before the service is launched. Testing is especially important for cultural and creative sectors as eliminating flaws and weaknesses, and improving user-orientation, can save money and other resources and therefore reduces losses. Testing may also build awareness of the service.
Case study
For example a new service application can be tested with a usability testing tool. In such case a group of users of different backgrounds and ITC skills are invited to test it. During the testing they will use the prototype of the application, and report their findings and experiences of the testing. The testing results can be analysed with an evaluation matrix.
End results of this phase
Test results are ready to be used for finalising the service.
