| Its easy to get emotionally
involved in a web project and overlook the obvious stuff like
testing, I've done it myself.
Your design is amazing. The flash animation is superb. The
graphics, the style sheet, the integration of wonderful colors
and overall site dynamics are simply breathtaking.
But hang on, how do I get back to home page? Where's the contact
us link? I can't see what links I've already visited... and
so on.
It is quite embarrasing, let me tell you. You get so emotionally
involved in a new project that you rush off to show the client
their new website at a local cafe on your laptop and you've
done absolutely no website usability testing at all. Not one
bit. Oops!
Sure, you've clicked around a bit and everything seems to
be working, but...have you ever noticed how you can spend
days working on a project, and everything seems fine, and
as soon as your client, or anyone else for that matter touches
it - it crashes or fails to function? Right in the middle
of a demo. Aaaaggghh!
Its a horrible feeling.
That's why I'd like to focus this article on a subject that
is often overlooked by many freelance web developers -- and
that is website usability testing.
So, what is Website Usability Testing?
Website usability testing allows developers to simulate regular
user experiences in a controlled environment, in an effort
to gather data and feedback about a newly developed website.
This collection of feedback is then used to identify and correct
any potential issues before the website is officially released
to its intended users.
Put simply. Make sure the damn thing works.
Usability is vital in creating a functional
and useful website or web application. If your site isn’t
user-friendly, the majority of visitors won’t come back,
regardless of how good your content is. You need to ensure
that you regularly perform usability testing for every website
you design so that it is as user-friendly as possible.
How to perform website usability testing as a freelancer.
Being aware of having to perform usability testing is one
thing, but how on earth is it possible to actually perform
it, when you work alone at home? If you're anything like me,
I'd often try and get my housemates or neighbours to volunteer.
This can be an option, but not always, especially when you
work crazy hours, up til 3am each night. And quite often this
can turn out to be more trouble than its worth.
There are however other options if you work alone or have
grumpy neighbours...
Perform research based on reputable sources.
Usability.gov
is a one-stop source for government web designers to learn
how to make websites more usable, useful, and accessible.
The site addresses a broad range of factors that go into web
design and development. The site will help you to:
- Plan and design usable sites by collecting data on what
users need
- Develop prototypes
- Conduct usability tests and write up results
- Measure trends and demographics
Try asking on popular webmaster forums.
You dont have to spend money if you don't want to. Asking
for feedback or usability suggestions on public forums can
actually be quite useful. You'll often get a variety of weird
and wonderful comments, its just a matter of filtering through
the bad ones and finding the ones worth taking onboard. Its
also important to ensure that you ask on a forum where there
are people who can make educated responses.
Spend some cash.
A great online resource is called usertesting.com.
UserTesting.com lets you "look over the shoulder"
of people in your target audience while they use your website.
And they make it fast, easy, and inexpensive, so it's definetely
worth the small investment.
So there you have it. A definition of website usability testing
and some options on how to go about actually doing it. So
what are you waiting for?
Don't forget. Our business kit includes a website testing checklist where you can systematically perform
and document website quality control and usability tests.
Best of luck to you.
John
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