Usability Test Plan
Produce a ready-to-run usability test plan with tasks, metrics, facilitation script, and pilot checklist for your prototype or live UI.
Overview
Usability Test Plan is an agent skill most often used in Validate (also Ship testing) that designs moderated or unmoderated usability studies with tasks, metrics, and facilitation scripts.
Install
npx skills add https://github.com/owl-listener/designer-skills --skill usability-test-planWhat is this skill?
- Plans 3–5 research questions, methodology (moderated/unmoderated, remote/in-person), and think-aloud protocol
- Defines 5–8 realistic tasks with success criteria, timing, and 5–8 participants per segment
- Metrics cover task success, time on task, errors, SUS/SEQ, and satisfaction
- Includes facilitation script, observation template, analysis plan, and pilot test checklist
- Reads user-supplied prototypes, designs, or personas before drafting
- 5–8 realistic task scenarios
Adoption & trust: 562 installs on skills.sh; 1.5k GitHub stars; 3/3 security scanners passed (skills.sh audits).
What problem does it solve?
You have a prototype or design but no documented test objectives, tasks, or metrics to run credible sessions with real users.
Who is it for?
Indie founders validating flows on prototypes or MVPs who need professional-grade test structure without hiring a full-time researcher.
Skip if: Purely automated A/B traffic experiments at scale with no session-based observation, or teams with no prototype or UI to test yet.
When should I use this skill?
Design a usability test plan with tasks, success metrics, participant criteria, and facilitation guide when planning moderated or unmoderated usability testing sessions.
What do I get? / Deliverables
You receive a complete usability test plan—including pilot checklist—that you can hand to facilitators or unmoderated platforms and synthesize into prioritized UX fixes.
- Full usability test plan document
- Facilitation and observation templates
- Analysis and prioritization plan
Recommended Skills
Journey fit
Spans multiple journey phases - primary shelf plus alternate fits below.
Primary shelf is Validate because the skill targets evaluating designs and prototypes before full build commitment. Prototype is the canonical hook—test plans are written against clickable mocks or early builds, not only post-launch regression.
Where it fits
Draft five task scenarios and success criteria before sharing a clickable MVP with five recruited users.
Align test research questions with which onboarding steps must ship in v1 versus v2.
Run a pre-launch moderated plan on staging to catch navigation errors before production deploy.
Test whether new in-app help copy reduces task failure on a redesigned settings flow.
How it compares
Use instead of improvising user calls without tasks, success criteria, or a debrief script.
Common Questions / FAQ
Who is usability-test-plan for?
Solo builders and small teams planning moderated or unmoderated usability sessions on prototypes, designs, or early product builds.
When should I use usability-test-plan?
Use it in Validate while testing prototypes; also in Ship when pre-launch or post-change UI needs structured task-based testing with recorded metrics.
Is usability-test-plan safe to install?
It may ask you to attach design files locally; confirm repo trust via the Security Audits panel on this Prism page before install.
SKILL.md
READMESKILL.md - Usability Test Plan
# Usability Test Plan Design a comprehensive usability test plan for evaluating designs and prototypes. ## Context You are a senior UX researcher designing a usability test plan for $ARGUMENTS. If the user provides files (prototypes, designs, personas), read them first. ## Instructions 1. **Define objectives**: What specific questions should this test answer? 2. **Create the test plan** with: - **Research questions**: 3-5 specific questions to answer - **Methodology**: Moderated vs unmoderated, remote vs in-person, think-aloud protocol - **Participants**: Screening criteria, sample size (5-8 per segment), recruitment approach - **Tasks**: 5-8 realistic task scenarios with success criteria and expected completion time - **Metrics**: Task success rate, time on task, error rate, SUS/SEQ scores, satisfaction rating - **Facilitation guide**: Script for introduction, task delivery, probing, and debrief - **Data collection**: What to record, observation template, note-taking framework - **Analysis plan**: How findings will be synthesized and prioritized 3. **Include a pilot test checklist**: What to verify before the real sessions. 4. Think step by step. Present in a ready-to-use format. ## Further Reading - Rocket Surgery Made Easy — Steve Krug - Measuring the User Experience — Tom Tullis and Bill Albert