How to get honest feedback in usability testing (without misleading results)

Getting honest feedback during usability testing is harder than most product teams realize. Users don't always say what they mean, and what they say isn't always what they do. If your feedback sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Usability testing should be conducted during multiple stages of the product development process to ensure continuous improvement. In fact, usability testing can be done at any point during the design or development process, making it a versatile tool for refining your product.

Participants often soften criticism, rush through tasks, or treat the session like a performance review instead of a space to critique the product. When that happens, teams walk away with feel-good insights that mask real issues. That leads to misguided design decisions, confused users, and wasted dev time.

Before you run your next test, ask yourself: Is your testing setup helping users speak their minds or just nod along politely? Conducting usability tests can lead to an iterative process that helps identify usability issues early on, allowing for more effective design adjustments. However, collecting usability feedback often requires careful planning and time investment to be effective, ensuring that the insights gathered truly reflect user needs and challenges.

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TL;DR

• Participants often hold back negative feedback to be polite or avoid hurting your feelings.
• Many think you're testing them, not the product, so they behave less naturally.
• Most focus on task completion, not the experience, which hides usability issues.
• Set expectations clearly before the session: you're testing the design, not them.
• Reframe criticism as helpful, not rude. Let them know feedback drives better outcomes.
• Ask about how it felt, not just whether they finished the task.
• Use post-test interviews to surface insights they didn't share mid-session.
• Usability tests are generally intimate, one-on-one conversations with users, which helps create a safe space for honest feedback.

When you recruit lookalikes, not real users

Let's say you're building a B2B analytics tool for finance teams. You recruit a 35-year-old in your target income bracket who's used Excel. Sounds close enough, right?

But they're actually a generalist marketing manager, not a financial analyst. They've never touched a forecasting dashboard in their life. They click around, give polite feedback and completely miss the core UX issues your real users would catch. Demographic questions help understand participant characteristics relevant to usability, ensuring you recruit the right users for your tests. Background questions also gauge participants' familiarity with the product or similar products, helping you assess whether they can provide meaningful insights.

This is the trap: matching surface-level traits (like age, industry, or tool familiarity) while ignoring behavioral fit.

Behavioral fit means:

• Has this user worked with similar tools before?
• Do they face the same day-to-day challenges your product solves?
• Can they speak to real pain points from experience

If not, you're testing with a lookalike, not a representative user. And that means your insights won't reflect real-world behavior, leading to wrong fixes and misaligned features.

Even the right users might not speak up

Now let's say you do recruit the right users. There's still a risk they won't be completely honest.

Why? Because most participants assume usability testing means they're being evaluated, not the product. That changes how they act. They become overly cautious, avoid mistakes, and hesitate to share negative feedback. People might not give honest feedback because they do not want to hurt the designer's feelings, which further complicates the process.

Some simply don't want to hurt your feelings. They know someone worked hard on the design, so they stay polite instead of pointing out flaws. Others focus on completing tasks as quickly as possible and gloss over friction points that would frustrate them in the real world.

This combination (trying to perform well, being nice, and rushing through) is what turns usability testing into a false signal.

To fix that:

• Set expectations clearly: you're testing the design, not them.
• Invite candid feedback by framing it as valuable, not critical.
• Ask them to narrate their thought process, not just perform tasks.

Real honesty doesn't happen by default. It happens when the environment, mindset, and user selection are all aligned.

Need a structure for your next test?
Download our free Usability Testing Plan Template, built to help you plan sessions that lead to real, honest feedback.

How to get honest feedback in usability testing

Feedback during usability testing is essential to uncover user's challenges and improve your product effectively.

1. Participants don't want to hurt your feelings

The barrier: People naturally want to please others and avoid conflict. During usability testing, this basic human instinct prevents participants from giving feedback about design problems. They see that you've put effort into creating the interface and worry that negative comments might hurt your feelings.

Why this affects results: Time and time again, designers find that participants give overwhelmingly positive feedback unless they've been properly prepared before the test session. Without honest criticism, you miss opportunities to identify and fix real usability problems.

How to overcome this: Brief participants so they understand they can and should provide honest reactions and feedback. One simple approach is to deflect perceptions about your personal involvement. You might de-emphasize how close you are to the work, or underscore your distance from it if you're from another team or company altogether.

Another method is to tell participants that you genuinely appreciate negative feedback because it allows you to improve the design. This way, you reframe negative feedback as learning opportunities and make it less likely that people will avoid mentioning problems.

2. Participants think you're testing them instead of the design

The barrier: Most test participants see a usability test and think "Oh, they're testing to see whether I'm competent enough to complete the task." As researchers and designers, we might forget that most participants aren't familiar with usability testing and don't know what it's actually about.

Why this affects results: When participants think you're testing them rather than the design, they tend to behave differently. They might be overly careful when completing tasks because they don't want to appear incompetent. This means your results won't be accurate, because the average user will likely be less alert when they use your product in real situations.

How to overcome this: Make it clear from the beginning that you're testing the design, not their abilities. Explain that there are no right or wrong answers, and that any difficulties they encounter help you understand how to improve the product. Emphasize that they're helping you identify problems with the interface, not demonstrating their skills.

You can also tell participants that if they struggle with something, it means the design needs improvement, not that they're doing anything wrong. This removes the pressure to perform perfectly and encourages them to share when they encounter confusing or frustrating elements.

3. Participants focus on completion rather than the journey

The barrier: During usability testing, participants often concentrate solely on finishing tasks rather than paying attention to their experience while using the product. They push through confusing navigation, unclear labels, and frustrating interactions without commenting on these problems.

Why this affects results: When participants only focus on task completion, you miss valuable insights about the user journey. You might learn that people can eventually complete tasks, but you won't understand the friction, confusion, or frustration they experienced along the way.

How to overcome this: Encourage participants to think aloud during the session and share their thoughts as they navigate through your product. Ask specific questions about their experience, not just whether they completed tasks successfully.

Focus on understanding the journey by asking questions like "How did that feel?" or "What were you thinking when you saw that screen?" This shifts attention from completion to experience and helps you identify areas where the interface could be more intuitive.

4. Participants hold back during the main session

The barrier: Even when you've prepared participants well, some people still hesitate to share negative feedback during the main testing session. They might notice problems but feel uncomfortable interrupting the flow to mention them, or they might not want to seem overly critical.

Why this affects results: Important insights get lost when participants don't feel comfortable sharing feedback during the session. You might miss understanding why they hesitated at certain points or what caused them to feel confused or frustrated.

How to overcome this: End each session with a post-test interview where you can gather additional insights. This gives participants a dedicated time to share thoughts they might not have mentioned during the tasks. Moderated usability tests allow for follow-up questions based on real-time observations, making it easier to clarify and expand on participants' feedback.

Ask open-ended questions like "Do you have any feedback or ideas about the product? They can be totally unrelated to our test session." This broader framing often encourages participants to share observations they held back during the main testing period.

5. Creating the right environment for honest feedback

The barrier: The testing environment itself can influence how comfortable participants feel about sharing feedback. If the setup feels formal or intimidating, people are more likely to hold back their real thoughts about your product.

Why this affects results: When participants don't feel at ease, they're less likely to behave naturally or share genuine reactions. This leads to feedback that doesn't accurately represent how real users would interact with your product in their normal environment.

How to overcome this: Create a comfortable, neutral environment for testing. Make sure participants have a comfortable seat, offer them a drink, and ensure the temperature is appropriate. When you put people at ease, they're more likely to work well with you and provide feedback.

Also, let participants know that their participation is voluntary and that they can ask you to stop if they find anything uncomfortable. It's unlikely someone will actually do this, but knowing they have control over the situation will improve their state of mind and willingness to share honest thoughts.

6. Using structured methods to gather honest feedback

The barrier: Even with good preparation, some participants struggle to articulate their thoughts clearly or need structure to provide useful feedback. Without guidance, they might give vague responses that don't help you understand specific problems.

Why this affects results: Unstructured feedback sessions often produce general comments that are difficult to act on. You might hear "it was fine" or "I liked it" without understanding what specifically worked well or what could be improved. Open-ended questions provide detailed feedback, while closed-ended questions yield specific, measurable responses, making it easier to analyze and act on the results.

How to overcome this: Use structured feedback methods like "I Like, I Wish, What If" to help participants organize their thoughts. This method frames feedback in a constructive and positive manner, making it easier for people to share honest opinions.

Rather than prompting participants to say "This feature is terrible," you help them say something more constructive like "I wish you would change this part to make it clearer" or "What if you moved this button to a more obvious location?" This approach makes negative feedback feel more collaborative and less like criticism.

7. Testing with multiple prototype versions

The barrier: When you show participants only one version of your design, they tend to hold back on criticism because they don't have alternatives to compare it against. People often assume that what you're showing them is the final version and feel reluctant to suggest major changes.

Why this affects results: Without comparison points, participants are less likely to provide critical feedback about your design choices. They might accept confusing elements or suboptimal flows because they don't realize better alternatives are possible.

How to overcome this: Consider testing several versions of your prototype when possible. This helps participants provide more critical feedback because they can compare different approaches and tell you what they liked and disliked about each version.

When you present people with alternatives, you allow them to evaluate the options and give you more feedback about which elements work better for their needs. This comparison naturally encourages more detailed and useful insights.

Why honest feedback matters for product success

During usability testing, feedback directly impacts your product's success in the market. When participants share their genuine reactions, struggles, and preferences, you get accurate data about how real users will interact with your product. Analyzing usability test results requires calculating usability metrics such as time on task and success rate to gain actionable insights.

Feedback helps you identify usability problems before launch, when fixes are still relatively inexpensive. It also reveals which features truly add value versus which ones create confusion or frustration for users.

Without feedback, teams often ship products based on overly positive test results, only to discover real usability problems after launch when changes are much more costly to implement.

Need help running usability tests with the right people?
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Conclusion

Criticism in usability testing requires intentional preparation and the right environment. Participants need to understand that you're testing the design, not their abilities, and that negative feedback helps you create better products.

Focus on creating comfortable testing conditions where people feel safe sharing their real thoughts. Use structured feedback methods and post-test interviews to gather insights participants might not share during the main session.

Remember that the goal isn't to confirm that your design works perfectly. The goal is to understand how real users experience your product so you can make it more intuitive and valuable for everyone who uses it. It is essential to conduct usability tests at various stages of product development to ensure the design evolves with user needs.

Want to go deeper into usability testing?
Check out our complete guide: packed with steps, strategies, and practical tips to build user-friendly products.

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