Test 1: the stranger test
You cannot test your own app fairly; you know where everything is because you put it there. So borrow fresh eyes.
- Pick a tester who has never seen the app. A sibling, a neighbour, a cousin on video call.
- Say only this: "This app is for [your WHO]. Use it." Nothing else. No pointing at the screen. Sit on your hands if needed.
- Watch for 2 minutes and write down: where they pause, what they tap first, what makes them frown, what they say out loud.
- Then ask the 4 golden questions from the card below.
🗣️ Ask your tester
- What do you think this app is for?
- What confused you, even for a second?
- What would make you open it a second time?
- If you could change ONE thing, what?
👀 Ask yourself while watching
- Did they reach the main feature within 60 seconds, unaided?
- Did anything need my explanation? (That thing is a design bug.)
- Did they smile at any point? Where? Protect that part.
When the tester gets stuck, do not explain. Every sentence you say is a sentence your app failed to say. Write it down, fix the design, and test again with the next person. Silence during testing is a professional skill, and it feels exactly as awkward as it sounds.
Test 2: the gremlin test
Now try to break your own app on purpose. Apps meet gremlins in the real world: little chaos agents with sticky fingers. Be the gremlin:
- Type nothing and press Save. Type 400 characters of "aaaa". Type emoji. Type -999 where a number goes.
- Tap the same button 10 times fast. Use the back button mid-action. Refresh in the middle of a form.
- Open it on the smallest phone in the house, and in a slow connection moment.
Every crash, blank screen, or nonsense result goes on your fix list. This is what professional QA testers are paid to do all day.
Fix with discipline
You now have a messy list from two tests. Do not fix in random order:
- Sort into 3 piles: BROKEN (stops people using it), CONFUSING (people hesitate), COSMETIC (colours, spacing, wording).
- Fix all BROKEN first, one fix-it message each, re-testing after each fix.
- Fix the top 2 CONFUSING items. Often the fix is changing a label, not a mechanism: "Submit" → "Save my match" removes a lot of hesitation.
- Cosmetics last, and stop early. Perfect is a trap; shipped is a teacher.
Name it
Naming is the most fun 20 minutes in product design if you treat it like a game with rules. A great app name is sayable, spellable, memorable, and a little bit yours.
🏷️ Questions that generate names
- What is the FEELING my app gives? (calm, hype, sorted, safe)
- What two words describe the job? Can I mash them? (Chore + Champions)
- Is there a Caribbean word, place, or sound that fits? (Lime, Breeze, Yaad, Irie)
- Does a short verb work? (Track it → Trackit)
🧪 Questions that test a name
- Say it aloud to someone once. Can they spell it back?
- Is it 3 syllables or fewer?
- Does it hint at what the app does, or at least the feeling?
- Search it with a parent: is another app already famous with this name? Is a sensible domain or handle free?
- Write 15 candidate names fast, using the generator questions. No judging while listing.
- Cut to 3 with the test questions.
- Run the grandmother test: say each name once to someone older; a day later ask which they remember. The one they remember wins.
- Rename everywhere: the app's title, the published link if the builder allows, and your home screen. Names create pride; pride creates finishing.
During your stranger test, your cousin stares at the home screen, lost. What is the professional move?
Finishing this opens Lesson 7: safety, risks and limits (bring a parent).