Conducting Website Usability Research
Every website usability project is different. But there are four elements that are often part of any website testing. The following four videos show a brief clip of each step in the usability testing process.
Step 1. Response to the homepage.
The homepage sets the stage for the user’s experience on the site. It informs them about what they can find on the site, it reinforces or conflicts with the company’s brand, and it sets an expectation about the site experience.
Step 2. Exploring the site.
It is often useful to watch as respondents explore the site, before they have become familiar with to the site’s architecture. Give the responent 5 – 10 minutes to simply “look around”. As they go through the exploration process, they verbalize their experience.
Step 3. Completing a task on the site.
A visitor’s ability to complete core tasks is at the heart of any usability study. For example, when making a purchase:
- How easy was the purchase process?
- Was it intuitive and familiar?
- What were the primary obstacles?
- How could the process be improved?
- Would the visitor have completed the purchase on their own at home?
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Step 4. Evaluating individual site features.
Web teams will often debate the optimal design or functionality of a site’s elements. But, the team may be too close to the site to see it from a visitor’s perspective. For example:
- Do visitors understand the terminology?
- Are they confused by having a top menu and a left side menu?
- Do they notice the content in the right channel?
- This is an opportunity to focus on specific elements and develop a fresh perspective on the visitor’s experience.
