What is Usability & User Testing

Usability Engineering is a design that is easy to use and puts the user first. Usability Engineers may also go by the titles Usability Designer or Information Designer.

It's OK!

At the early stages, usability engineering involves not just thinking like a user, but finding the balance between what the company wants (i.e. to sell products) and what the user wants (i.e. to buy the right products). The design of a web site (for example) needs to have its content organised so that it's as easy as possible for the user to find what they want.

Although thinking like a user sounds simple, it isn't in practice. It's often hard to see the forest for the trees - particularly when you're the one that planted the forest.

Baby at Work

Usability Testing

You can't beat an actual user for discovering how they will use your site. It's amazing how much can be learnt by simply grabbing someone - anyone - and watching them try to use a web site. It's a great way of doing a reality check.

"A few years ago I observed a group who created an interactive multimedia project. It was only when they were presenting it in front of an audience (and having to speak very loudly over their background music), that they realised they hadn't put a volume control in. Now a volume control is a pretty basic thing to forget to include - and these people weren't idiots - they were just too busy thinking about other parts of the project." Chris, Usability Designer.

Obviously there's more to user testing than just watching one person. Some of the questions that will need answering are:

  • Who are your users? What expectations do you/they have?
  • How many users is it appropriate to test the system with?
  • How should their comments be collated and acted upon?
  • Is direct interactive testing more appropriate than indirect?

Sounds too complicated? It doesn't have to be - a Website Warrant Of Fitness is a great place to start.

Do I really Need User Testing?

Yes. Quite simply, if your web site hasn't had much thought put into how it will work for the end user, you're probably losing a number of them. A happy user will stay on your site longer and buy more. That's a proven fact. And if you haven't tested your web site on real users, how do you really know what they're really doing?

Fingers Crossed "I've found users will lie to you. They have your best intentions at heart of course. There could be two common reasons for this: they were unable to do/use something and don't want to feel foolish, or they don't want to hurt your feelings. It's rare for a user to rank something a low 1 on a scale of 1 to 10. Or a 2. Or a 3 for that matter. In fact, you could do worse than to just throw away all the numbers below 4." Chris, Usability Designer.

Don't think all the usability issues can be sorted out at the QA stage. That's bad thinking. That's after the horse has bolted thinking. Sure, tweaks can be made post-design which will improve some things but the best way to create a truly usable site is to follow usability principles throughout. Of course, if you already have a web site and want it improved, we can help there too with a Website Warrant Of Fitness. It's peace of mind about your website.

Usability For Everyone

Internet Zone

Usability doesn't just apply to web sites - virtually all of the same principles apply to multimedia systems, kiosks, training systems, etc. - in fact anything which someone is expected to use.

A round of usability testing doesn't have to be an expensive proposition either. It doesn't have to test hundreds of people. It doesn't require a special lab. It doesn't produce results you need several university degrees to understand.

Certainly not when we do it together. Contact us now for a chat.