Before you test Baseline

For Ferdinand (UX): what to prepare, see and do in a user test of the Baseline prototype.
The brief and requirements every method got

Ferdinand is NTB's UX designer. He will run a user test of the Baseline prototype (the customer-facing image portal with the new checkout from LIP-1440) with NTB customers, in the room or remotely through a shared link. He isn't a developer. Write what Ferdinand should read before he runs that test: what to prepare and check, what he can see and do during the test, and what to do afterwards. Specific to Baseline: its screens, its test customers, its known gaps.

  • Show, don’t tell: live pages, diagrams, tables, links, code
  • First screen: the thing itself and one line
  • Only the words needed
  • One fact per paragraph
  • Link every page mentioned
  • Diagrams wherever there is structure or a sequence
Baseline docs
Side by side One at a time
No skilldiataxisdiataxis-docstechnical-writingdoc-coauthoring

Claude with the brief and requirements only. The yardstick.

Before you test Baseline

What to set up and check before a user test of Baseline with NTB customers.

Baseline front page What a participant sees when they open the link.Open

Baseline is the customer-facing Image Portal with the new checkout from LIP-1440. Participants search, open an image, add it to the cart and check out.

This guide

PageRead it for
Before you test Baseline (this page)Which copy to share, resetting, the checklist, which images to use
The five test customersWho a participant can be, and what each one sees
During the testThe screens, what works, and what is only drawn
After the testWhat to collect, what to reset, what the test can answer

Share the stable copy, never the working copy

Which copy a participant usesThe working copy changes while people work; the stable copy is a fixed version shared through an ngrok link to participants in the room and remotely.

Use the stable copy for every session, in the room too. The working copy changes and restarts while others work on it.

A developer ships and starts the stable copy. Ask one a day ahead; the steps are in docs/stable-copy.md.

The stable copy only contains committed work. Ask the developer to confirm the version you tried is the one shipped.

Reset before each session

Everything a participant does lives in the server's memory. Everyone with the link shares one session: the same customer, the same cart.

There is no reset button. Restarting the stable copy resets it:

WhatAfter a restart
Test customerAftenposten: no plan
CartEmpty
Orders and receiptsGone
Pack downloads (Bergens Tidende, Fædrelandsvennen)10 of 10 left
Changes made in the adminUndone; prices come from the admin

Checklist

  • The link opens the front page.
  • The flask icon in the header shows Viewer: Aftenposten: no plan.
  • The cart in the header is empty.
  • You use a desktop browser. Checkout isn't made for phones in this round (D31 on Decisions).
  • You did a dry run: add an image, check out as Kari, open the receipt PDF. Then ask for a restart.
  • The test date is before 31 December 2026. Stavanger Aftenblad's subscription ends then, and the panel changes.
  • Nobody else has the link during the session. Anything they click changes the participant's screen.

Pick the images beforehand

The images are real records from NTB's test search API. Many carry test titles ("head007", Finnish placeholder text) or test instructions ("Tiny image"). Choose the images you will point to.

ImageFamilyWhy use itPrices
Vistech på kontoretEditorialSupplier instructions: "Kan kun brukes i positiv omtale om NTB"1 875, 2 500, 4 000 kr
Jalkapallo-VM 2026: Brasilia - Norja (1-2)Editorial, AFPAFP images have their own prices and two licences2 250, 3 000 kr
Nobels fredspris 2021CreativeOutside the editorial plans750, 1 400, 4 000 kr
Girl lying on bean bag and playing video gamesCreativeSupplier instructions: "Model and Property Released (MR&PR)"750, 1 400, 4 000 kr

Prices include VAT and are the same for all five test customers.

No skilldiataxisdiataxis-docstechnical-writingdoc-coauthoring

Diátaxis with a rule sheet per kind, a plan, claims checked against the code, C4 diagram rules. Source

User testing Baseline

What to read before you put Baseline, the customer-facing image portal with the LIP-1440 checkout, in front of NTB customers.

Baseline, public site What the participant sees: the portal, signed in as a test customer.Open
A Baseline test, start to finishBefore: a developer ships the stable copy and you check it. During: you steer customers from the flask menu while the participant searches, buys and checks out. After: reset and sort findings.

Do

Three guides, in the order you need them.

Look up

Facts to keep open during the session.

Understand

Elsewhere on this site