Infocomm TechnologyISCO 2519
ICT usability tester
An ICT usability tester is a person who ensures compliance with the requirements and works towards optimal usability through the phases of the software design cycle: analysis, design, realisation and implementation. The tester also works closely with users, studies them and produces descriptions of user profiles, and analyses the tasks, the workflows and the user scenarios.
Check yourself in a minute: ICT usability tester
Rate 5 of the 17 essential skills of this occupation (European ESCO data). No account needed.
use experience map
test for emotional patterns
assess users' interaction with ICT applications
report test findings
test for behavioural patterns
About ICT usability tester
Usability is tested rather than discussed. The tester evaluates how users interact with ICT applications, observing how users carry out tasks in the application. Interviewing to obtain information is a separate skill, used for what observation cannot show. The knowledge base is partly behavioural. The tester works from human-computer interaction, from application usability and from behavioural science. These fields describe how people perceive, decide and act when using software.
Testing is also software work. The tester performs software testing, works from a knowledge of the software testing levels, and creates the software testing documentation, recording the findings for the development team.
Timing matters. A usability problem found during analysis or design is a change to a document; the same problem found after implementation is a change to a system people are already using.
European Skills Framework
Skills and knowledge areas required for this occupation based on European classification.
Essential (17)
behavioural sciencebehavioural scienceThe investigation and analysis of subject behaviour through regulated and lifelike observations and disciplined scientific experiments.levels of software testinglevels of software testingThe levels of testing in the software development process, such as unit testing, integration testing, system testing and acceptance testing.human-computer interactionhuman-computer interactionThe study of the behaviour and interaction between digital devices and human beings.application usabilityapplication usabilityThe process through which the learnability, efficiency, usefulness and ease of use of a software application can be defined and measured.use experience mapuse experience mapExamine all the interactions and touchpoints people have with a product, brand or service. Determine key variables such as duration and frequency of every touchpoint.test for emotional patternstest for emotional patternsDiscern patterns in the emotions of individuals by using various tests in order to understand the causes of these emotions.assess users' interaction with ICT applicationsassess users' interaction with ICT applicationsEvaluate how users interact with ICT applications in order to analyse their behaviour, draw conclusions (for instance about their motives, expectations and goals) and improve applications' functionali...report test findingsreport test findingsReport test results with a focus on findings and recommendations, differentiating results by levels of severity. Include relevant information from the test plan and outline the test methodologies, usi...provide software testing documentationprovide software testing documentationDescribe software testing procedures to technical team and analysis of test outcomes to users and clients in order to inform them about state and efficiency of software.test for behavioural patternstest for behavioural patternsDiscern patterns in the behaviour of individuals by using various tests in order to understand the causes of their behaviour.conduct research interviewconduct research interviewUse professional researching and interviewing methods and techniques to gather relevant data, facts or information, to gain new insights and to fully comprehend the message of the interviewee.execute software testsexecute software testsPerform tests to ensure that a software product will perform flawlessly under the specified customer requirements and identify software defects (bugs) and malfunctions, using specialised software tool...execute ICT user research activitiesexecute ICT user research activitiesPerform research tasks such as recruitment of participants, scheduling of tasks, collecting of empirical data, data analysis and production of materials in order to assess the interaction of users wit...address problems criticallyaddress problems criticallyIdentify the strengths and weaknesses of various abstract, rational concepts, such as issues, opinions, and approaches related to a specific problematic situation in order to formulate solutions and a...measure software usabilitymeasure software usabilityCheck the convenience of the software product for the end user. Identify user problems and make adjustments to improve usability practice. Collect input data on how users evaluate software products.replicate customer software issuesreplicate customer software issuesUse specialised tools to replicate and analyse the conditions that caused the set of software states or outputs reported by the customer in order to provide adequate solutions.create website wireframecreate website wireframeDevelop an image or set of images that display the functional elements of a website or page, typically used for planning a website's functionality and structure.
Optional (27) — show
Agile project managementAgile project managementThe agile project management approach is a methodology for planning, managing and overseeing of ICT resources in order to meet specific goals and using project management ICT tools.cognitive psychologycognitive psychologyThe human mental processes such as attention, memory, language use, perception, problem solving, creativity and thinking.visual presentation techniquesvisual presentation techniquesThe visual representation and interaction techniques, such as histograms, scatter plots, surface plots, tree maps and parallel coordinate plots, that can be used to present abstract numerical and non-...JavaScriptJavaScriptThe techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms in JavaScript.XQueryXQueryThe computer language XQuery is a query language for retrieval of information from a database and of documents containing the needed information. It is developed by the international standards organis...PHPPHPThe techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms in PHP.SPARQLSPARQLThe computer language SPARQL is a query language for retrieval of information from a database and of documents containing the needed information. It is developed by the international standards organis...ICT debugging toolsICT debugging toolsThe ICT tools used to test and debug programs and software code, such as GNU Debugger (GDB), Intel Debugger (IDB), Microsoft Visual Studio Debugger, Valgrind and WinDbg.web programmingweb programmingThe programming paradigm that is based on combining markup (which adds context and structure to text) and other web programming code, such as AJAX, javascript and PHP, in order to carry out appropriat...tools for ICT test automationtools for ICT test automationThe specialised software to execute or control tests and compare predicted testing outputs with actual testing results such as Selenium, QTP and LoadRunner.web based collaborative platformsweb based collaborative platformsOnline tools which facilitate communication and collaboration among Internet users in real time. Platforms with a range of functionalities created to facilitate organisational team work or promote pro...resource description framework query languageresource description framework query languageThe query languages such as SPARQL which are used to retrieve and manipulate data stored in Resource Description Framework format (RDF).LDAPLDAPThe computer language LDAP is a query language for retrieval of information from a database and of documents containing the needed information.AJAXAJAXThe techniques and principles of software development, such as analysis, algorithms, coding, testing and compiling of programming paradigms in AJAX.ICT project management methodologiesICT project management methodologiesThe methodologies or models for planning, managing and overseeing of ICT resources in order to meet specific goals, such methodologies are Waterfall, Incremental, V-Model, Scrum or Agile and using pro...unstructured dataunstructured dataThe information that is not arranged in a pre-defined manner or does not have a pre-defined data model and is difficult to understand and find patterns in without using techniques such as data mining.LINQLINQThe computer language LINQ is a query language for retrieval of information from a database and of documents containing the needed information. It is developed by the software company Microsoft.Process-based managementProcess-based managementThe process-based management approach is a methodology for planning, managing and overseeing of ICT resources in order to meet specific goals and using project management ICT tools.lean project managementlean project managementThe lean project management approach is a methodology for planning, managing and overseeing of ICT resources in order to meet specific goals and using project management ICT tools.N1QLN1QLThe computer language N1QL is a query language for retrieval of information from a database and of documents containing the needed information. It is developed by the software company Couchbase.use markup languagesuse markup languagesUtilise computer languages that are syntactically distinguishable from the text, to add annotations to a document, specify layout and process types of documents such as HTML.manage schedule of tasksmanage schedule of tasksMaintain an overview of all the incoming tasks in order to prioritise the tasks, plan their execution, and integrate new tasks as they present themselves.debug softwaredebug softwareRepair computer code by analysing testing results, locating the defects causing the software to output an incorrect or unexpected result and remove these faults.use scripting programminguse scripting programmingUtilise specialised ICT tools to create computer code that is interpreted by the corresponding run-time environments in order to extend applications and automate common computer operations. Use progra...develop automated software testsdevelop automated software testsCreate software test sets in an automated manner, using specialised languages or tools, that can be performed by testing tools in order to save resources, gain efficiency and effectiveness in test ex...develop ICT test suitedevelop ICT test suiteCreate a series of test cases to check software behaviour versus specifications. These test cases are then to be used during subsequent testing.design user interfacedesign user interfaceCreate software or device components which enable interaction between humans and systems or machines, using appropriate techniques, languages and tools so as to streamline interaction while using the ...
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Frequently asked questions
What does an ICT usability tester do?
ICT usability testers ensure compliance with requirements and strive for optimal usability within the software engineering cycle phases (analysis, design, implementation, and deployment). They also work closely with users (analysts) to research for and document user profiles, analyse tasks, workflows, and user scenarios.
What skills does an ICT usability tester need?
An ICT usability tester needs 17 essential skills, including behavioural science, levels of software testing, human-computer interaction, application usability, use experience map.
Will AI replace ICT usability tester jobs?
The AI disruption score for ICT usability tester is 53/100 (moderate risk). Skills most exposed to automation: LDAP, manage schedule of tasks, report test findings. Most resilient: cognitive psychology, human-computer interaction, conduct research interview.
AI Replacement Risk
53/ 100
Moderate Risk
Low riskHigh risk
Quick Facts
SectorInfocomm Technology
ISCO GroupInformation and communications technology professionals
Essential Skills17
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