Five participants.
Nine issues.
Two critical fixes.
Moderated, remote, think-aloud usability testing produced a SUS of 84.5 ("excellent") and a calm-vs-panicked Likert of 4.6/5. Two critical issues found and fixed before final hand-off.
Validated against six metrics.
Pre-registered targets, post-test results. Every target met or exceeded except UI filing task success — that one was at 80% in v3 and projects to 100% after the v4 Texas-portal fix.
Moderated · think-aloud · 60 minutes each.
Test panel
| ID | Industry | Region | Layoff window | Persona archetype |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| T01 | SaaS | California | 6 wk ago | Maya |
| T02 | Crypto | Ontario | 4 mo ago | Daniel |
| T03 | Banking | North Carolina | 3 mo ago | Robert (age 52) |
| T04 | Media | Texas | 9 mo ago | Edge case (TX hostile portal) |
| T05 | Healthcare admin | Illinois | 2 mo ago | Joanne |
Seven tasks. Five participants.
| Task | T01 | T02 | T03 | T04 | T05 | Success |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Onboarding completion | ✓ 5:14 | ✓ 4:42 | ✓ 7:08 | ✓ 6:31 | ✓ 5:47 | 100% |
| 2. Find today's action | ✓ 0:31 | ✓ 0:24 | ✓ 0:42 | ✓ 0:39 | ✓ 0:51 | 100% |
| 3. File unemployment | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ → fix | ✓ | ✓ | 80% |
| 4. Review severance | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | 100% |
| 5. Calm-mode reaction | + | + | – (fix) | + | + | 80% pos |
| 6. Day 30 wrap-up | + | + | + | + | + | 100% pos |
| 7a. Find runway calc | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | 100% |
| 7b. Add spouse income | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | n/a | ✓ | 75% |
| 7c. Find 401(k) rollover | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | 80% |
Nine issues, ranked by severity.
Two critical (severity 4), one major (severity 3), three moderate (severity 2), three minor (severity 1). Severity 3 and 4 fixed before final hand-off.
"This red banner saying '9 days remaining' on the home screen — I literally said in our interview that the employer sending me three reminder emails to sign felt aggressive. Now you're doing it too." — T01
Fix in v4: Banner now amber not coral. Only appears when <72 hours remain (was <14 days). Dismissable for the day.
"The TWC portal is down constantly. What does Severance do when it's down? Right now this just punts me there and I get a 503." — T04
Fix in v4: Server-status check before redirect. Graceful "portal down, draft saved, retry" copy. Phone-filing path surfaced for TX.
"'It's day 2. The world can wait.' I'm 52. I have a 19-year-old in college. I have a mortgage. The world is not waiting. I get what you're trying to do but to me, this reads like you think I'm a fragile person." — T03
Fix in v4: Calm mode now skippable for users who self-identify as ready. Copy revised: "the world can wait" → "we'll be steady." Tone moves from protective to companionable.
T02 went Money → Adjust → Profile. Fix: inline modal in Money instead.
T05 looked in 3 places. Fix: cross-listed in both Money and Documents.
T05: "The app uses the acronym like I know what it means." Fix: tappable "?" affordance + first-mention underline.
Eleven changes. Tracked. Shipped.
| Area | v3 (tested) | v4 (final) |
|---|---|---|
| Banner color (severance window) | Coral | Amber + dismissable |
| Banner trigger window | <14 days | <72 hours |
| State portal fallback | Missing | Server-status check + draft save |
| Calm mode | Auto, "world can wait" | Auto with skippable, "we'll be steady" |
| Spouse income edit | Profile-only | Inline modal in Money |
| 401(k) discoverability | Money only | Cross-listed in Money + Documents |
| Acronyms | Bare | Tappable "?" + first-mention underline |
| Pagination dots | 6px | 8px + numeric label |
| Day-timeline future tap | None | Peek preview |
| Pause placement | Beside Continue | Top-right of app bar |
| Privacy disclosure access | Settings only | Lock affordance on every data screen |
The hi-fi mockups in Final Designs reflect v4. The v3 → v4 changes that involved emotional copy were reviewed by a friend with lived experience as a one-cycle critique before final.
That's the work.
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