Usability testing is a technique applied during the design phase of a project to test its usability by presenting it in front of users.The main goal of this sort of testing is to check whether the product meets the intended purpose.With the help of usability testing the product owner can prevent making changes in the later phases of the project by making sure before hand that the design is approved by the actual users.
The four section that needs to be checked are :-
1.Accessibility - If your site takes too long to load ,the font is way too small to read ,too many distracting advertisements are present, then accessibility issues can arise,which would lead the user away from your webpage.
2.Navigation - Navigation is a very important aspect of a website hence factors like clear representation of tabs,a reasonable number of links and tabs,easily identifiable links are very necessary to maintain the user's interest in the website.
3.Identity -Identity answers some of the questions like Who are you?,What do you do?,How can I contact you and so on.Hence,it is very important to provide this information in the form of company logos,contact us page,introduction page and other information pages that are necessary to identify the purpose of the website
4.Content - While writing content some of the things should be kept in mind,for example,don't use bold too much,highlight the heading,the title should be self - explanatory,don't use obtrusive ads in your main content,content should be clear and well formatted.
Technique for usability testing -
Eye tracking
A very interesting technique that is used nowadays is Eye tracking in which eyes of users can be tracked to analyse what they are looking at in on your site.This answers certain questions like :-
- What is the first thing users look at on a page?
- What do users look at the longest on a page?
- Which parts of a page are overlooked?
- What elements are distracting users from completing a task?
- What aspects of the website can be improved?
Card Sorting
This technique asks users to divide the website content into groups and label them.In this way the sensible content can be differentiated from unintelligible one.
Tree Tracking
This technique asks the user to identify the location of content on the website.
Heat Map Tools
Heat Map tools captures the location where users click on the website.
References
http://www.usereffect.com/topic/25-point-website-usability-checklist
http://www.usabilitysciences.com/services/eye-tracking
Images -
Yay, comic strips for the win! Interesting information about the different techniques for doing usability testing. Just a note, usability testing also helps the developers test the limits of their product by testing the product out in the "real world" and getting feedback from users. The product will always have changes, small or big, even after the product is officially released. Usability testing just ensures that the product meets the general public's and the developer's initial satisfaction before the developers officially release the product. =)
ReplyDeleteThe comic strip at the top of your blog post is hilarious. In my experience as a software developer, there were a couple times when my client got frustrating during a meeting trying to describe what he wanted. The quick and easy solution my boss used was a usability test. It not only saved development time but money. You did a decent job covering the areas that need to be checked and reviewed in a usability test. However, there were sections that were not covered as well and I think that you should add more content to help the reader understand what you are talking about.
ReplyDeleteI found your blog post to be very interesting, it introduced aspects of usability testing that I had not previously considered, as well as some useful terminology that a reader can walk away with and look into further if they want to learn more. I like the fact that these terms are paired with an example such as a website, however it was not clear in your introductory paragraph that you were going to use a website as a constant example throughout your post. Other than that and a few typos, this post is flawless!
ReplyDelete"Yay, comics strip for the win!"
ReplyDeleteSentiment is shared!
Good info on the different methods of usability testing, will probably keep the tips in mind for future use. If possible, it would be cool to find out how the big tech companies manage their usability testing and if that knowledge is open to the rest of the public.
Great blog regarding usability testing. I find that even though there may be more than four sections that need to be checked in order to fully utilize usability testing, accessibility, navigation, identity, and content seem to be of most importance. It would be great if you expanded more on the different techniques for usability testing. Overall, great work and the comic strips are humorous and enjoyable.
ReplyDelete