Guerrilla Testing
Fast, informal testing with whoever is available, which is far better than no testing and worse than proper recruitment.
Definition
Guerrilla testing recruits participants opportunistically, typically for short sessions with a rough prototype. It trades representativeness for speed and cost.
Craft convention. True because the industry converged on it. Breaking it costs familiarity, not correctness.
On this page
What it is good for
- Catching obvious comprehension failures in labels and copy.
- Testing a single flow quickly during a sprint.
- Building the team's habit of watching people use things.
- Settling internal disagreements cheaply.
Continue from here
Each link says what the connection is, so you can tell a principle from an alternative from a thing people mix this up with.
Principles behind this
The reasoning this solution is an application of.
- Curse of KnowledgeCognitive bias
- Survivorship BiasCognitive bias
Often used with
These usually appear in the same screen or the same decision.
- Usability Test ScriptTemplate
- UserTestingTool
Alternative approach
A different answer to the same problem, with a different cost.
- Usability TestingResearch method
Cheaper and faster, with a sample you did not choose.
Related concept
Connected closely enough to change how you apply this.
- Five-Second TestResearch method
- Prototyping FidelityWorkflow