ISTQB CT-UT ISTQB Certified Tester Usability Tester Exam Practice Test

A usability requirement specifies how usable a product or component must be, often in terms of effectiveness, efficiency, and user satisfaction, as defined in ISO 9241-11. These requirements ensure that the product meets specific human-centered design goals, such as allowing users to complete tasks accurately and quickly. Options A and C describe procedural or test setup elements, not actual usability requirements. Option B refers to personnel qualifications, which are not the same as usability requirements related to system behavior or performance.

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) provide standards to ensure websites are accessible to people with disabilities. They specifically address:

i. Text resizability (SC 1.4.4),

iii. Text alternatives for non-text content (SC 1.1.1),

iv. Keyboard accessibility (SC 2.1.1),

v. Device independence, which includes not relying solely on mouse input.

Visually appealing design (ii) is not an accessibility requirement and is thus not a WCAG focus. The correct answer is D: i, iii, iv & v are true; ii is false.

Conducting user surveys involves a structured approach that ensures data collection is effective, reliable, and meaningful. The process typically starts with writing a survey plan, which defines the objectives, scope, target population, and methodology. Next, interviewing users and stakeholders is important to gather qualitative insights, refine survey questions, and align the survey with business goals and user needs.

Selecting or designing the questionnaire follows, which includes crafting clear, unbiased questions to capture the desired data. After that, deploying the questionnaire to the recruited participants is essential; this can be done via email, online tools, or in-person, depending on the context. Once the data is collected, it must be analyzed to extract meaningful patterns, trends, and insights. Finally, communicating the findings to stakeholders completes the process by informing decision-making.

Other options miss critical steps such as deploying the questionnaire (Option C), or combine steps incorrectly (Options A and D). Importantly, the step of interviewing users and stakeholders prior to deployment ensures the survey is well-informed and targeted, enhancing the quality and relevance of data collected.

The human-centered design process emphasizes iterative development—testing and refining designs through multiple cycles. In the scenario, the project manager interviewed users and evaluated a prototype but did not iterate based on feedback. Skipping iteration likely resulted in unmet user needs. Human-centered design, per ISO 9241-210, includes: understanding context of use, specifying requirements, producing design solutions, and evaluating—repeated iteratively. Hence, option D (“iterate”) is correct.

A usability evaluation is specifically designed to assess how real users interact with a software product. It focuses on effectiveness, efficiency, and user satisfaction in completing tasks. This may involve usability testing, expert reviews, or heuristic evaluations. The goal is to identify any usability problems and understand user behavior during real use.

Option A (Accessibility evaluation) targets inclusivity for users with disabilities, not general user interaction. Option B (Usability maturity assessment) evaluates the organization’s usability practices, and Option C (Risk assessment) evaluates potential project or system risks. Only option D directly involves observing and measuring user interaction.

The scenario describes a situation where the interface misleads users into making serious financial mistakes due to poor design, such as confusing decimal separators. Even though the system functions correctly, it facilitates critical user errors. This constitutes a major usability risk with potential legal and financial consequences. Therefore, the correct risk to address is increased liability due to financial loss caused by a poorly designed or deceptive interface (option D). The other options focus on usability-related dissatisfaction, resistance, or lack of adoption, which are not the key concern in this scenario.

Positive usability findings play a key role in reinforcing what is working well in the user interface. They help:

A: Build developer confidence and soften criticism when pointing out issues.

C: Provide a complete picture of usability strengths and weaknesses.

D: Inform developers what should remain unchanged during redesign.

However, B is incorrect because justifying usability test costs should not rely solely on positive findings. Cost justification should come from the overall impact of usability on user satisfaction, performance, and business outcomes—not just good results.

A usability test task is a clearly defined activity that a participant is asked to perform during a usability test session. These tasks are typically created by the test designer or moderator and are designed to reflect realistic user goals (e.g., “Find and buy a product”). The purpose is to observe the participant’s interaction with the system and identify usability issues. Option A describes a usability test script, not a task. Option C defines usability evaluation in general, and D refers to a session, not a specific task. Therefore, B is correct.

Usability reviews evaluate a system or interface against established usability principles or standards to identify potential issues before user testing. A recognized criterion for such reviews includes adherence to usability standards such as ISO 9241 or the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). These standards are derived from years of research and user-centered design principles. Options A and C do not directly relate to usability. Functional requirements (option B) refer to what the system should do, not how usable it is. Hence, option D is correct as usability standards provide a consistent, objective basis for evaluating usability.

SUS (System Usability Scale), SUMI (Software Usability Measurement Inventory), and WAMMI (Website Analysis and Measurement Inventory) are all validated, standardized usability questionnaires that support benchmarking. They allow comparison against known usability scores from a wide variety of systems. These instruments provide numeric scores that can be interpreted using benchmark datasets or industry standards. Therefore, all three—i, ii, and iii—are true, making D the correct answer.

Usability test reports are more effective when they are balanced and include not only problems but also what worked well. Including positive findings increases credibility, encourages the development team, and helps them understand what should remain unchanged. Option B violates privacy and ethical standards. Option C may dilute focus, and D could worsen the problem by making the report less accessible. Thus, the best practice supported by usability.gov and Nielsen Norman Group is to include both positive and negative findings.

A pilot usability test session is a critical step prior to conducting the actual usability test. Its purpose is to ensure that the test setup, task design, and moderator instructions are clear and function as expected. According to ISO 9241-210 and the Nielsen Norman Group's best practices, pilot testing helps detect unforeseen issues and fine-tune the process. Options A and B are incorrect because testing conditions must reflect realistic scenarios, and thorough preparation is essential to gather meaningful usability data. Option D is also incorrect; a usability test typically consists of multiple sessions with different users to gather sufficient data for analysis. The pilot session ensures everything works smoothly before involving real participants.