Test it on a stranger

Say nothing

Find one person who has the problem, or close to it. Send them the link, or hand them your phone, and say only: “Could you try to [result]?” Then stop talking. Every explanation you give is one the page failed to give.

If you can be there, watch. If not, ask them to record their screen or to narrate as they go.

Write down every hesitation

Not their opinions about colours: their actions. Where did they pause? What did they click that did nothing? What did they read twice? What did they say out loud? Each of these goes on a list, word for word.

Fix the worst one first

Usually it is in the first ten seconds: they did not understand what to put in, or they did not see the result. Fix that before anything else. Then, if there is time, fix the next one.

Resist adding features they mention. “It would be nice if it also…” goes on the not-list from step two. You are fixing confusion, not scope.

If nobody is available

Ask in a community where people have the problem. Or, at worst, come back to the tool after a night’s sleep and use it as if you had never seen it. It is not as good, but it is far better than nothing.

Done when

One person used it without an explanation, every hesitation is written down, and the worst one is fixed and live.