practical usability testing
what is usability testing?
Usability is a complex topic but at it's core usability testing seeks to determine a) whether users able to get what they want from a website and b) in what ways can the site be improved in order to increase the user's experience. Understanding your users is key to knowing how to accommodate them but achieving that understanding can be difficult.
what are some benefits of usability testing?
Usability testing is key in understanding how to modify your site in order to make it more successful by whatever measure you determine. It also allows you to engage your customers and get a fuller understanding of them that may allow you to take advantage of opportunities that would have otherwise been missed.
when is usability testing appropriate?
Certain types of usability testing such as focus groups and interview methods may not be appropriate for certain types of business and budget. However there are quicker and less expensive methods such as online surveys, heuristic evaluation, and A/B testing that all organizations can take advantage of.
some examples of usability testing
heuristic
Heuristic evaluations are simply involve a small set of analysts that are familiar with a set or recognized priciples of usability reviewing a site and making recommendations. This is usually most appropriate before undergoing more extensive testing to 'clear out' obvious problems that might present obvious stumbling block and points of fixation of, say, focus group participants.
focus groups and observation
Focus groups and direct observation of users can be conducted in many different ways. The obvious benefit is that we have the ability to interact and get feedback from your customers or target audience.
surveys
Putting together a long term survey plan can be a great way to continually and easily track user satisfaction. Generally the more traffic the site receives the more statistically significant data can be gathered in a shorter period of time, but customer feedback is always valuable.
A/B testing and multivariate analysis
When combined with surveys and a web analytics program A/B or multivariate testing can be invaluable for optimizing key areas of your site such as your home page. The basic premise of this kind of testing is that multiple versions and variations of a web page is randomly served to a new visitor allowing us to see how visitors respond to different designs.