For Developers

Test your app or website at the Usability Testessen

You’ve developed a digital product, an app, a website, or a prototype, and want to know how well it goes over with real users? Then the Usability Testessen is exactly the right place for you.

Here you’ll find out how you can participate as a team, what you need to prepare, how the evening works, and what you’ll concretely get out of it.

What is the Usability Testessen?

The Usability Testessen is a regular, open event where real users test various digital products in a short time, and you get direct, unfiltered feedback on them.

The format: 12-minute tests in speed-dating style. At each table, one person tests your product, asks questions, thinks aloud, and you simply listen. Then it’s on to the next tester. In total, you can test with about 6 to 12 people in one evening, live, unfiltered, honest.

Pizza and drinks included.

Who can have a product tested?

Anyone who has a digital product, whether app, website, prototype, or complex application.

How the evening works

Because Usability Testessen events are organized by individual organizing teams in different cities and regions, there may be small differences from place to place. But in general, a Testessen goes something like this:

1. Arrive & set up

You get your table and set up your equipment: laptop, tablet, smartphone, possibly with an external screen. Then there’s time for pizza and exchange with other teams.

2. Test sessions

In multiple rounds (about 6 to 12 total), one tester comes to your table each time. You give a small task, observe the user behavior, ask follow-up questions if needed, and note down valuable feedback.

3. Exchange & wrap-up


Between sessions, you can reflect on impressions, exchange ideas with other teams, and let the evening wind down in a relaxed way.

The method: Just tell me what you think.

A usability test with the thinking-aloud method is quick to prepare, inexpensive, and surprisingly robust. You don’t need a lot of experience or an elaborate setup for it. The testers work on typical tasks while speaking aloud what they’re thinking, which gives you valuable insights into their user behavior.

Usability guru Jakob Nielsen once found: “You don’t need more than five users to discover the biggest usability weaknesses of a product.” That’s exactly why the Testessen is so effective.

And for those who want to know more, there’s a more detailed guide at the Kompetenzzentrum Usability.

What’s in it for you?

Real user feedback

Direct, honest, unfiltered, without a lab setting or artificial test scenarios.

Fast and compact

Within two hours, you can test with about 6 to 12 real people, an enormous gain in insights for minimal effort.

Low-threshold entry into UX testing

Ideal if you have little time, budget, or experience with traditional usability testing.

Contact with other teams

The exchange with other UX professionals, startups, and agencies is a real plus.

What do you need to prepare?

A digital product or clickable prototype

Web app, mobile app, desktop software, or clickable dummy, anything is possible. What’s important: the product must be testable.

A clear test focus


What do you want to find out? Where do you have open questions? Who do you want to reach? Targeted tasks help you collect meaningful feedback.

One team member per table


Typically, a team comes with 1 to 2 people. You need one contact person at the table who moderates, explains, and observes.

Frequently asked questions

Do you need your own equipment?

Yes, you bring your own test setup (laptop, device, possibly a hotspot). Power, WiFi, and a table are provided on site.

What if the product isn’t finished yet?

No problem. Unfinished versions are actually particularly well suited for feedback because you can still react flexibly.

Are there specific requirements for the product?

Just one: it should be digital and testable by individuals within 12 minutes. Everything else is flexible.

What does it cost?

Nothing. Participation is free for everyone. Pizza and organization included.

Ready to test?

Then check right away when and where the next Usability Testessen is taking place and sign up your team!

We look forward to your ideas and products!