Market research methods

Usability testing

Usability tests are structured interviews that focus on the usability of specific features of a website or other user interface.

Best Uses

Usability testing is best used to evaluate prototypes of planned websites or planned functionality within an existing website. It is used to evaluate the interface and to note any problems or issues faced by users, in order to give feedback to developers.

Methodological Considerations

• When to test:
  • In order to be as effective as possible, usability testing should be an iterative process that is integrated into the development process.
  • Developers can create an initial prototype which is tested with users. Revisions are made and the next version is tested. Again, feedback is incorporated and a subsequent version is tested. This continues until users are able to use the functionality with ease.
  • The testing cycle can begin with very rudimentary prototypes (for example, paper diagrams) and advance throughout the development process to get closer to a fully functional prototype. This iterative incremental process should save development time, because many issues will be resolved on paper before any coding takes place. In addition, developers can make incremental improvements, rather than significant changes based on assumptions.
• Create tasks that represent typical user activities and ask the user to complete the task.
• Observe the approach that the user takes, the problems that the user faces, whether the user is successful in achieving the task, how long it took to complete the task, and so forth.
• Ask users to talk through their thought process, as they make decisions or run into problems.
• If possible, usability sessions should be videotaped to allow developers to review the sessions later to further analyse problems that the user faced.