Building a usability testing practice
ACRA
Transforming UX Research at ACRA by establishing a usability testing practice that is scalable, effective and efficient
Date
Aug 2022 to present
Location
Singapore
Team size
3 UX Designers
My role
UX Research
UX Design
Overview
The Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) is the regulator of business registration, financial reporting, public accountants, and corporate service providers.
To ensure its digital services are intuitive and inclusive, I led efforts to embed usability testing into the product development process, creating toolkits and guidance, building stakeholder buy-in, and establishing a structured practice where user insights drive decision-making.
“We want our digital services to be user-friendly—but how do we know if they are?”
The challenge
When I joined the newly formed UX Design team at ACRA, the organisation was in the midst of a major digital transformation. However, user research was still ad hoc. Teams acknowledged its importance, but there was no shared approach, little consistency, and minimal stakeholder involvement.
As a public-facing agency, we needed to hear directly from our users to make our services more accessible, intuitive, and inclusive.
An opportunity for improvement
If we could put in place a repeatable structure for usability testing, we could systematically uncover user pain points, validate design decisions, and make our digital services truly user-centric.
We started small and built along the way
Together with my two fellow UX designers, we started small—advocating for just one usability test, documenting what worked, and gradually refining our approach. Over time, this grew into a more structured and sustainable practice.
Creating a toolkit
We developed a usability testing guide tailored for internal teams, including templates for recruitment, consent forms, test plans, scripts, note-taking, and reporting. We kept it lightweight and jargon-free, so even non-designers could easily understand and use it.
Establishing a testing cadence
To move away from ad-hoc testing, we introduced a more proactive approach, scheduling usability tests regularly during key design and development milestones. This helped teams plan ahead and treat usability testing as an integral part of the project lifecycle, not an afterthought.
Gaining buy-in from product owners
We invited product owners to co-create test plans with us. We aligned on objectives, walked through user flows together, and selected key tasks to test. This collaborative planning helped build trust and ownership.
Scaling with tools and resources
As a lean team, we explored digital tools to improve efficiency. We piloted platforms like Maze for unmoderated testing and tapped into crowd-sourcing platforms to build a pool of ready participants. These helped us test more frequently and gather insights faster without stretching our resources.
Building a practice through doing
We facilitated live usability sessions with real users and invited stakeholders to observe. While some were initially sceptical, seeing real users struggle or succeed in real time was eye-opening. This experience helped shift mindsets and build empathy.
Empowering others
We ran internal sharing sessions and walkthroughs to demystify usability testing and encourage adoption. Over time, we see product teams requesting usability testing support earlier in their process, recognising its value in reducing rework and improving user satisfaction.
Curious to Know More? Let’s Chat.
I’d love to share more about the outcomes of this project, but due to its sensitive nature, I can’t publish the details publicly.
Let’s connect over a chat instead!
Fill in the form or reach out to me via email at fionalee23@gmail.com