Usability testing for UX writing: A step-by-step guide (Updated for 2025)

Photo by Melisa Hildt on Unsplash

So you think your UX writing is effective? Prove it.

I used to think I wrote great content. The words looked clear, I followed UX writing best practices, and I assumed I was guiding users to take action. But until I started usability testing for UX writing, I couldn’t prove my assumptions.

UX writing is tricky to measure for success. Just because people click on a button that you wrote for, doesn’t mean you’ve optimised it for the most clicks. And even if customer support teams aren’t seeing complaints about your content, it might still cause friction within user journeys.

In 2025, UX writers and content designers can no longer just write. We need to prove our value through strategic thinking. That makes user testing for content more important than ever. Fortunately, it’s never been easier.

Why usability testing is essential to UX writing

• Testing proves clarity. You move from “I think this is clear” to “100% of users understood this content.”

• Testing saves money. Uncovering confusing copy helps you prevent abandoned checkouts and support tickets.

• Testing gives UX writers influence. Testing arms you with the data that supports your decisions. It’s more powerful than any stakeholder’s gut feeling.

  
  

When you test your content with real users, you’ll find out whether users are accurately understanding your content and how you can better align your content with their expectations.

Let’s say you’ve written “Get help” for a text link that leads users to an FAQ page. Will users expect that destination, or are they hoping to see a customer support form? Testing answers that question. It uncovers the essential user-backed data to validate your work and find areas for improvement. So you’ll know whether to rephrase the text link or not.

Is “Get help” the best wording here? Testing helps you find out.

How to run usability testing for UX writing

Step 1: Define your UX writing test goals

First, decide on your research goals. What insights do you hope you gain from these tests that can help your business?

From there, create tasks for your users to complete based on those research goals. If your team’s priority is to increase sign-ups, create a task based on the account-creation flow. Or, if you want to test a new purchasing flow to see how smoothly users can complete their purchase, if at all. Whatever your task, it should address a key question that aligns with your business goals.

Once you’ve decided on your tasks, choose specific strings throughout the user journeys for testing. That way, you can ask users about the strings within the context of the user journey.

Usability testing questions for UX writing:

• How do you understand this text? (“What does ‘Check availability’ mean to you?”)

• How does this text make you feel? (“‘Sorry, something went wrong’ — How do you feel when you see this?”)

• When you see this text, what are your expectations? (“‘Get help’ — What do you think will happen after you click this?”)

Avoid leading questions and keep your inquiries neutral. Asking “Is this copy confusing?” or “Is this copy clear?” might prompt your user to tell you what they think you want to hear — tampering with your data.

Find copy in your digital product to test and ask questions like, “What does this mean to you?”

Step 2: Find your users (with or without a budget)

You don’t need a big budget to run usability tests for UX writing. Start small by seeking feedback from colleagues, particularly those outside the product team. A fresh set of eyes can reveal gaps in clarity.

But if your company can invest, set up an email blast and offer a small incentive (like a $10 gift card) to attract participants. A $50 budget for five users is peanuts to the business, but the insights you gleam could save you tens of thousands.

In your outreach email, state what the test is for, how long it takes, where it’ll take place (online or in person), what users get in return, and whether the session will be recorded. A simple, professional-looking email builds trust and makes people more likely to respond.

Include a short form (Google Forms are fine) to gather details such as availability, usage habits, and consent. This ensures you’re testing with a mix of people who actually represent your product’s users.

Finally, add a clear deadline for responses to nudge people to reply in time.

Step 3: Run the tests

Now that you’ve arranged testing times, it’s show time!

Whether you’re running the tests in person or remotely, aim for a natural environment and make your user feel comfortable before starting the tasks. Begin with a quick icebreaker, such as asking about their plans for the day.

Get started for real with a quick rundown on the session. At this point, tell your users that there’s no right or wrong way of doing things — you want to see how they complete the tasks.

Have the tasks written down for quick reference, but avoid reading from a script. Asking your questions in a natural, conversational way will make the user feel at ease.

Once they’re ready, start recording (if you’re testing online, ask your user to share their screen). Instruct them on each task and tell the user to think aloud — this will give you a better idea of their emotional response and how they’re responding to your product. They should naturally read your copy aloud and tell you how they’re understanding things (ideally) without prompting.

As they complete the tasks, remember to ask questions about specific UI strings, but don’t be afraid to improvise when needed. If a user is focusing on some text that wasn’t part of your original plan, ask them about it.

After each task, I ask, “How was your overall experience doing this task?”. Here, they’ll usually share their thoughts about the user experience and mention any pain points they encountered.

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

Step 4: Collect & analyse results (with AI tools)

Now it’s time to turn your recordings into actionable feedback.

Start by gathering all your notes, recordings, and user feedback in one place. Tools like Notion, Miro or FigJam are great for organising observations into themes.

Old school researchers might comb through notes line by line. But in 2025, AI tools can speed up the drudgery so you can focus on the insights:

• Automatic transcription and tagging: Use tools like Otter.ai or Grain to transcribe test recordings, highlighting key moments where users hesitate or get confused.

• Pattern finding: AI-powered research tools (like Dovetail AI or Condens) can cluster similar feedback and pain points. This helps you see whether multiple users got stuck on the same phrase or misunderstood the same button label.

• Sentiment analysis: AI assistants like Formula Bot can scan transcripts and flag positive and negative reactions towards your content.

• Insight generation: Instead of manually summarising, you can ask AI to generate a first draft of “key findings.” Just make sure to double-check. AI can speed things up, but the final interpretation should be yours.

Here you’ll find trends. Did users stumble on the same error message? Did they skim past important onboarding text? Patterns are more valuable than one-off comments.

Usability testing helped me uncover pain points that stopped users from booking and find copy to improve.

Step 5: Iterate & share the feedback

Start by rewriting the content that tripped users up. If you’re still unsure, prototype your changes and run another short test round with colleagues before committing.

Sharing your results is just as important as making the changes. Create a simple slide deck or summary doc with:

• The top 3–5 issues users faced

• A few direct quotes or clips

• Your proposed fixes

Keep your results doc short and visual so your teammates can grasp the impact at a glance.

Finishing up

The first round of usability testing is just the start. Your UX copywriting should continuously evolve, like the product it sits in.

Make testing a part of your workflow. Each test will help you catch blind spots, validate your choices, and grow your instincts as a UX writer.

Over time, usability testing will deliver UX writing that’s proven to be effective.

Add usability testing to your UX writing workflow for continuous improvement.