Try It Yourself is a lightweight self-research technique in which a designer or team member attempts to complete a task or experience a service using only the means available to a typical user, with no expert shortcuts. It is the informal cousin of formal usability testing and Be Your Customer (faster, cheaper, and available at any moment) and it is often the fastest way to identify obvious problems before spending budget on participant research.
Try It Yourself
The fastest way to find obvious problems before research begins
A
Designers Academy
15 April 2025 · 3 min read
ResearchMethods
In brief
Try It Yourself is a lightweight self-research technique where a designer or team member completes a task as a typical user to quickly identify design problems.
