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测试产品文案的5种有趣方式

如何判断你的文案好坏与否

BY   John Saito（Dropbox设计师）

翻译：Kevin嚼薯片

你一天能看到多少个文字？不管你信不信，研究表明，一个典型的社交媒体用户每天能看到约5.4万个文字。

意想不到吧，这比你看书还要多！譬如，我最喜欢的小说《搏击俱乐部》也只有49,962个字。

这么多的文字在争夺注意力，好的文案比以往任何时候都重要。任何人都可能输出糟糕的内容。但想要脱颖而出，你需要输出一流的内容。

但是你怎么知道你的文案是否有效？这就需要测试。测试可以帮助你看到文案如何与读者产生共鸣 —— 在你点击那个恐怖的发布按钮之前。

让我们看一看来测试产品文案的5种有趣方式。通过这些测试，你可以获得关于写文案的有价值的见解，甚至在这个过程中也有一些乐趣。

🤔 反应卡片

早在2002年，来自微软的几位同事创建了一个测试方法，称为“微软反应卡片法”。这是一种用118张反应卡片来衡量产品是否可取的方法。

每个反应卡片都有一个术语，比如恼人、新鲜、有帮助的。在看了一个设计之后，每个测试参与者要选出他们认为最相关的卡片。然后他们要解释他们的选择。

反应卡片

这个方法最初是用来测试设计的，但是你也可以用它来测试邮件文案、网站文案、甚至是在Medium上的一个故事文案。

有了这个方法，你就能得到比“你喜欢它吗？”更具体的反馈了。它通过控制词汇来捕捉人们的情绪反应。通过限制人们可以选择的词汇，使得比较和结果变得更加容易。

如果你感觉118张卡片难以把控，试着用少一点。尼尔森诺曼集团推荐使用25个或更少的词汇。

而且你不必使用跟微软相同的词汇。如果你有特定的品牌属性或目标，试着用这些词汇作为开始。如果你足够有胆量，甚至可以用表情符号代替文字 😮

🖍 高亮显示

你会使用Medium的高亮显示功能吗？许多人用高亮来标记他们喜欢的段落。很明显，有些字词比其他字词好，高亮显示能帮助你发现人们最喜欢的是什么部分。

你也可以使用高亮显示来测试文案。把你的文案打印在纸上，并给两只高亮笔给你的参与者。让他们用一种颜色来标注他们喜欢的部分，用另一种颜色来标注他们不喜欢的部分。

最后，你可能会得出这样的效果：

不同颜色的文案

然后，询问参与者为什么要标注这些字词。

这个方法最棒的地方在于它能对你使用的字词有所反馈。如果你用了一些用错误的字词，你就会看到它们被标注出来。如果人们喜欢某些字词，你也会看到。

另外，用明亮的霓虹笔做标记比在电脑屏幕上点击一些按钮有趣得多了。

⭐️ 贴纸！

我喜欢贴图。尽管它们只是一些粘粘的纸，但它们有神奇的力量。拿一份旧文件，在上面贴一个傻傻的贴纸，然后突然之间，那份文件就会变得很有趣。

贴纸非常神奇，它们也可以用来测试内容。还记得上面的高亮显示方法吗？贴纸方法也是类似的。

高亮笔很酷，但是你可以使用的颜色有限。如果你使用的颜色超过2-3种，你很难记住每种的含义。

另一方面，贴纸有更多的含义。你可以用星星、脸、词语、表情——任何你喜欢的东西。

在打印出你的内容后，让参与者把相关的贴纸贴在他们阅读的单词旁边。例如，你可以使用这样的贴纸：

🤷🏻‍= 这里没有任何意义

💡= 这里很深刻

👹 = 这里很可怕

🤕 = 啊，这里太可怕了，让我头疼

然后，请他们解释为什么他们贴上这些贴纸。最后，你将会通过这些彩色贴纸获得大量有用和有趣的反馈。

🗣️ 给你的朋友去讲解

朋友往往是我们讲解事情的最好对象。朋友打从心里对我们感兴趣，所以他们会实话实说。另外，我们的朋友往往跟我们在同一个频道谈话——没有花哨的行话或含糊的语言。

要做这个朋友测试，请参与者每次阅读一小块内容，就像你的网页的一部分一样。然后问他们这个问题：

“你会怎么向朋友解释这个?”

你基本上是让他们重复他们刚刚所读过的东西，但需要用他们自己的话来说。现在请仔细听他们说的话。

如果他们用跟你写的相同的词汇来解释你的话题，碰巧他们脱离不了你写的词汇——这是一件好事。你的传递的内容是有效的！

如果他们不记得他们读过的任何东西，那就意味着你的内容很糟糕。好吧，也许不是，但这可能意味着你的内容不是令人难忘的 或 “具有粘性的”。

在《Made to Stick》这本书中，Chip和Dan Heath认为需要有这6个特征来保证粘性：

简洁：它有核心信息吗?

意外：它会吸引人们的注意力吗？

具体：它是否足够具体，让人可以在以后记住？

可信：它是可信的吗?

情感：这会让人在意吗?

故事：它能让人们能行动起来吗?

如果你的读者无法解释他们刚刚读到的内容，那么你的文章可能缺乏一个或多个这样的特征。尽你最大的努力去调整，直到你的词汇能和你的听众保持在同一频道。

👉🏽选择你最喜欢的

很多时候，我发现自己一次又一次地重写同样的东西。例如，我已经把这段重写了5次了！我是优柔寡断的人，有时难以选择哪个方向是最好的。

我每天问自己一个问题

但如果有一种方法可以测试两三个版本，让读者选择他们最喜欢的呢？这就是这个方法的意义所在。

要做这个测试，打印出不同版本的文案。然后向参与者展示每个版本，每次一个版本，并在每个版本上征求他们的想法。最后，让他们选择他们最喜欢的。

不过，不要在一段时间内给出太多的文案。每个版本应少于150字，大致相当于两或三段。另外，不同的版本应尽可能地不同，让参与者可以清楚地辨认不同的版本。

参与者选择了最喜欢的后，问他们原因。你将有望发现关于该版本的特别之处，它可以指导你去编写余下的文案。

这种方法有点像小范围的A/B测试。但与A/B测试不同的是，这个方法可以帮助你理解为什么他们喜欢这一个版本而不是那一个。另外，它还能帮助你梳理写作过程。而真正的A/B测试往往是在你完成写作之后。

测试进行时！

现在你已经接触了一些不同的测试文案的方法，希望它能激励你进行自我测试。

这些测试的好处是它们是轻量级的，不需要太多的准备工作。有些人甚至会说这些测试很有趣。参与者可以玩纸牌、打火机和贴纸，而写作者则可以收集有价值的反馈。每个人都有所收益。

当你准备好为你的测试寻找参与者时，试着去找那些可能是你的文案的读者，并向5 - 7名参与者发起邀请。如果结果是好坏参半，你后续可以进行更多的测试。

如果你想了解更多的文案测试方式，这里有一些相关的文章：

《Testing Content》—Angela Colter

《A simple technique for evaluating content》—Pete Gale

《When Should We Turn to Content Testing?》—Sara Zailskas Walsh

《Practical Advice for Testing Content on Websites》—Hoa Loranger

在文章底部打赏并留言，将获得《产品经理能力模型地图》和《运营能力模式地图》高清无码版本。

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5 fun ways to test words

How to tell if your writing is any good

BY   John Saito

How many words do you see in a single day? Believe it or not, studies have shown that a typical social media user sees about 54,000 words a day.

Heck, that’s more words than you’d find in a book! For example,Fight Club, one of my favorite novels, weighs in at a mere 49,962 words.

With so many words fighting for attention, good writing is more important than ever. Anyone can create crappy content. To stand out from the crowd, you need to create top-notch content.

But how can you tell if your writing is any good? Well, that’s where testing comes into play. Testing helps you see how your words resonate with readers—before you hit that scary Publish button.

Let’s have a look at 5 fun ways to test the content you write. Using these tests, you can get valuable insights about your writing, and even have some fun along the way.

🤔 Reaction cards

Back in 2002, a couple of folks from Microsoft created a testing approach known as the Microsoft Reaction Card Method. It’s a way to measure the desirability of a product, using a set of 118 reaction cards.

Each reaction card has a single term on it, likeAnnoying,Fresh, orHelpful. After looking at a design, each test participant is asked to pick out the cards they find most relevant. Then they’re asked to explain their choices.

Reaction cards

This method was originally used to test designs, but you can also use it to test the words in an email, a website, or even a Medium story.

With this method, you’ll be able to get feedback that’s a lot more specific than “Do you like it?” It captures the emotional reactions people get, using a controlled vocabulary. By limiting the words people can pick, it makes it easier to compare and combine results.

If you find 118 cards overwhelming, try using fewer cards. The Nielsen Norman Group recommends using 25 words or less.

And you don’t have to use the same words Microsoft used. If you have specific brand attributes or goals in mind, try using those words as a starting point. If you’re feeling especially brave, you can even use emojis instead of words 😮

🖍 Highlighting

Do you use the highlighting feature in Medium? Many people use highlights to mark the passages they love. Clearly, some words are better than others, and highlights help you see which parts people love most.

You can use highlighting to test content, too. Just print your content out on paper and hand your participant two different highlighters. Then ask them to highlight the parts they liked in one color, and highlight the parts they didn’t like in another color.

In the end, you might end up with something like this:

Color-coded content

Afterwards, ask the participant why they highlighted the words they did.

The great thing about this method is that it gives you feedback about the specific words you’re using. If you used certain words that rubbed people the wrong way, you’ll see it highlighted right there. If people loved certain words, you’ll see that, too.

Plus, marking things up with bright neon colors is a lot more fun than clicking some buttons on a computer screen.

⭐️ Stickers!

Boy, do I love stickers. They’re just little pieces of sticky paper, but I swear they have magical powers. Take any old document, pop a silly sticker on there, and BAM! That document is now beaming with fun.

Stickers are so magical that they can also be used to test content. Remember the highlighting method from above? The sticker method is a lot like that, except you use stickers instead of highlighters.

Highlighters are cool, but you’re limited by the number of colors you can use. If you use more than 2 or 3 colors, it can be tough to remember what each color means. (Wait, what does yellow mean again?)

Stickers, on the other hand, carry more meaning. You can use stars, faces, phrases, emojis—whatever tickles your fancy.

After printing out your content, ask participants to put relevant stickers next to the words as they read. For example, you can use stickers like these:

🤷🏻‍= This part didn’t make any sense

💡= This part was insightful

👹 = This part was scary

🤕 = Ugh, this part was so awful it made my head hurt

Afterwards, ask them to explain why they labeled the things they did. In the end, you’ll have tons of helpful feedback in the form of fun, colorful stickers.

🗣️ Explain this to a friend

Friends are often the best people to explain things to us. Friends have our best interests at heart, so they tell it like it is. Plus, our friends tend to talk like we do — without the fancy jargon or mumbo jumbo.

To do the friend test, ask the participant to read one small chunk of content at a time, like one section of your webpage. Then ask them this magical question:

“How would you explain this to a friend?”

You’re basically asking them to repeat what they just read, but in their own words. Now listen carefully to their words.

If they explained your topic using the same words you wrote, chances are your words stuck with them—and that’s a good thing. Your messaging worked!

If they’re not able to remember anything they read, well, that means your content sucks. Okay, maybe not, but it probably means your content wasn’t memorable or “sticky.”

In the book Made to Stick, Chip and Dan Heath say that an idea needs to have these 6 characteristics in order to be sticky:

Simple:Does it have a core message?

Unexpected:Does it grab people’s attention?

Concrete:Is it specific enough to be remembered later?

Credible:Is it believable?

Emotional:Does it make people care?

Stories:Does it get people to act?

If your readers aren’t able to explain what they just read, your writing is probably lacking in one or more of these areas. Try your best to focus on each of these areas until your words stick with your audience.

👉🏽 Choose your favorite

A lot of times, I find myself rewriting the same stuff over and over again. For example, I’ve rewritten this paragraph about 5 times already! I’m indecisive and sometimes I just can’t decide which direction works best.

A question I ask myself daily

What if there was a way to test two or three versions and let readers choose their favorite version? That’s exactly what this method is about.

To do this test, print out different versions of your content. Then show the participant each version, one at a time, and get their thoughts on each version. Finally, have them choose the version they like the most.

Try not to show too much content at a time though. Each version should be 150 words or less, which is roughly the size of two or three paragraphs. Also, the different versions should be as different as possible, so participants can clearly see what’s different.

Once the participant has chosen a favorite, ask them why they chose it. You’ll hopefully uncover specific traits about that version that can inform how you write the rest of your content.

This method is kind of like A/B testing at a much smaller scale. Unlike A/B testing though, this method helps you understandwhysomeone prefers one version over another. Plus, it helps youduringyour writing process. A/B testing usually happens after you finish writing.

Time for testing!

Now that you’ve seen a few different ways to test content, hopefully it’ll inspire you to run your own tests in the future.

What’s nice about these tests is that they’re lightweight and don’t require too much prep work. Some might even say these tests are fun. Participants get to play with cards, highlighters, and stickers, while writers get to collect valuable feedback. Everyone comes out a winner.

When you’re ready to find participants for your tests, try to find people who’d be potential readers of your content and shoot for 5–7 participants. If you get mixed results, you can always do more rounds of testing later.

And if you want to learn more about content testing, here are some related articles to get you in the mood:

Testing Content—Angela Colter

A simple technique for evaluating content—Pete Gale

When Should We Turn to Content Testing?—Sara Zailskas Walsh

Practical Advice for Testing Content on Websites—Hoa Loranger

Do you have other ways of testing content? If so, I’d love to hear about it. Feel free to chime in below with your own ideas, success stories, or horror stories. We all have things we can learn from each other.

You might be seeing over 50,000 words today. Hopefully, these 1,500 words were well worth your time. ✌️

英文原文来自：https://medium.com/@jsaito/5-fun-ways-to-test-words-f132af5a8456