You never really know how well something works until people try to use it. Even the most logical seeming processes can have problems when they are tested with users.
The problems you find in usability testing, often appear totally obvious with hindsight. But until you see them, they are not obvious at all.
A real life usability [...]
Tags: Usability testing
The world is facing a massive financial downturn, so doing business over the internet makes more sense now than it ever did. In order to succeed, retail businesses should pay more attention to the usability of their websites.
Why the increased focus on e-commerce?
It’s cheaper for customers
We’re likely to be buying on the internet more often, [...]
In today’s financial climate, organisations are trying to cut costs. This has led to lots of new and innovative cost-cutting usability techniques springing up. Some of them are ingenious, but not every cost saving measure is a good idea.
One technique that is becoming popular with some is focus group usability testing. I recommend that you [...]
Many web teams I talk to long for the day they get to redesign their websites. I remember the days when I was the same. I now believe that the word ‘redesign’ should be avoided. I think it’s quicker and easier to improve a website in phases. That includes the look and feel.
Avoiding the R [...]
Tags: redesign, Usability testing
I was discussing Gerry McGovern with a friend recently. We both like the way he writes about good web content. However my friend felt that he couldn’t really see a difference between Customer Carewords and Jared Spool’s trigger words. They are both similar I agree, but I think there are differences. I’ll attempt to describe [...]
Tags: Gerry McGovern, Jared Spool, navigation, trigger words, Usability testing, web writing
During usability tests participants will learn how to use the website during the session. This can have an affect on the accuracy of your results.
Simulating reality
Usability tests attempt to discover what people really do when they use websites. Essentially we’re trying to simulate situations that occur in real life. Good test facilitators try to preserve [...]
Tags: tasks, Usability testing
Whether you’re carrying out your own test or a specialist is doing it for you, there are a few tasks I that recommend you avoid.
Free browse
The free browse task is when the facilitator just asks the participant to just spend a few minutes looking around the site. People often make it the first task in [...]
Tags: eyetracking, tasks, tips, Usability testing
I'm a freelance usability consultant.
I'm based in Scotland, in between Edinburgh and Glasgow. But I work all over the place.
