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Usability Testing
Once the web developer has thoroughly tested the code and reviewed the content, it is time to start the usability testing.
Usability testing is the only way to know if the website has problems that keep people from having a successful and satisfying experience. Usability testing is when representative users try to do typical tasks on the website, while observers, including the web developer, watch and take notes. Usability testing of a website is an essential element of quality assurance. Usability testing is the only way to really know how the site will facilitate users to get answers to their questions and to see what types of problems they are having or where they are struggling.
One-on-one sessions where a "real-life" user performs tasks on the website in order to identify user frustrations and problems with the site.
The results of the usability test should be reviewed by the web developer team and prioritized to determine which issues must be fixed before the site is implemented and the ones that can be fixed later.
What Does Usability Measure
Usability testing measures the quality of a visitor's experience when interacting with a website with the guidance of a facilitator. The usability testers should not have been involved with the design or the development of the website. A list of questions should be developed to see if the testers can easily answer.
- Ease of use
- What is the point of the website / page?
- How fast can a visitor accomplish basic tasks?
- Can they easily navigate the website?
- Can they guess where to find things?
- Can they remember where they found important information?
- Error frequency and severity
- How often do visitors make errors while using the website?
- How do visitors recover from these errors?
- Satisfaction
- How much does the visitor like using the system?
- What is difficult to do or find?
- Did you get lost? If so, when or where?
- What did you like or not like?
Time Frames
Usability testing can last from 5 minutes to about 1 hour.
Usability Testers
Should be unbiased people who are not involved with the design or development of the website. Good testers may be current customers or clients, students, volunteers, friends, people in other departments or other businesses.
Page last updated: May 31, 2012 11:44 AM
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