Usability testing pays big dividends.
“There’s no time.”
“There’s no budget.”
“I’ll do it later… maybe.”
Let’s just get right to it – there’s only one person who knows if your website cuts it or not. And it’s not you. It’s the person who will actually use it. So you need to test. And guess what? It doesn’t need to be time-consuming or expensive. And the time is now, not later.
Keep this in mind:
Action, not words. A good test focuses on watching people use your site, one at a time. It’s what they do, or don’t do, much more so than what they say. Forget focus groups. They’re all about talk. The right usability testing is all about behavior.
Give them something specific to do. Charge the users with specific tasks and see what happens. Is the flow right? Do they get it? Is the right functionality in the right place? What about language – does it help or get in the way? Navigation? Labels? Directives? Do the users give up, or can they move on to the next task?
Five people may be enough. Research shows you’ll get over 85% of your insight within the first three to five interviews. So use your budget to do more iterative testing as you go along rather than one big block too late in the process. Mantra: test, refine, test, refine.
Seeing is believing. Watching someone try to do something is eye-opening. You can’t replicate that in a written report. A usability lab allows users to be viewed remotely, so they’re not intimidated by someone looking over their shoulder. Team members watch on monitors, seeing users’ mouse movements as well as their facial expressions. Among other advantages, it allows for immediate collaboration on improvements.
Test early, test often. This belongs with the mantra “test, refine, test, refine.” Small tests along the way yield giant results. In one day you can test five people, save yourself a boatload of time, and deliver a really good experience.
Your site isn’t a reflection of your company; it IS your company. Testing is probably the biggest dividend you can give, and receive.
Our thanks to Tracy Rosen for helping us test early and test often. Tracy is founding partner of Meeting Street Marketing, an independent market-research firm based in Connecticut.
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I totally agree with this! I get so frustrated when websites, etc. don’t take you to right page etc. I never understand how it isn’t tested better before it is out there for everyone to use. You can lose many customers with a bad website.