A Website Usability Test - Coursework Example

A Website Usability Test Introduction Usability testing entails methods of exploring the easiness with which to make use of something that constitutes testing the thing with expert users. The person carrying out the tests asks users to complete the duties practically under supervision carried out by researchers. The function of the associate is to identify areas where users find complexities and encounter confusion during the use. If the results show that many users experience problems, then it is definite that the recommendations will include ways of overcoming issues arising from usability. A difference exists between traditional testing that includes amo9ng other things acceptance testing and bug testing and usability testing that includes the latter taking place with real users who also include customers who use the product. On the other hand, traditional testing entails taking place using a developer to conduct the tests and either the manager in charge of the project or the designer. Comparatively, usability testing is essential in minimizing bias through collection of the feedback from the user who appears at the end of the process. Two types of usability testing exist and include explorative usability testing and comparative usability testing. The latter applies when making comparison of the use of one web site with another. Generally, experts use comparative usability testing while evaluating competing sites. Nonetheless, it can also apply when making comparison between two designs in the process of establishing the site with the best experience for use. Explorative usability testing works well while carrying out tests before releasing a product to the market. It is exemplary while finding out the functionality as well as content that includes among others satisfying the needs of the users. It is the duty of the punters to test various services as they receive realistic scenarios to fill that helps in outlining different gaps within the market with various opportunities those users can take advantage of and show the direction that the design can take. Reasons for carrying out usability testing The most accepted and recognized methodology of identifying important usability issues with the end user remains usability testing with actual representatives. It is possible to evaluate how users respond when they try common responsibilities on the company site and site using face-to-face test session moderated using the purpose built usability testing stations (Ward, Shadle, and Mofield, 2008, p. 70). All through, the observer can supervise the usability session in other rooms that remain comfortable and serving as the observation centre. The portable usability testing kit allows people to carry out usability testing in their offices. It also includes field testing where the supervisor views users in action that remains the natural habitat and remote testing to widen the reach. Among many others benefits of usability testing include increasing the conversion rates of online conversion. In this case, using the example would be a banking client hiking submissions of loan application forms by fourteen percent from thirty-five percent in a period not exceeding one-and-a-half months. Secondly, usability testing supports online migration. Scholars would point at a tolling company reducing calls to its call centre by more than sixteen percent following successful implementation of various recommendations from the company. Usability testing plays part in increasing employee productivity. A company would for instance, increase work completion rate by employees from forty-eight percent to around eighty percent for one of institutional customers. Usability testing increases the satisfaction in addition to improving the experience of the user that could for example include helping a college student enhance mean satisfaction from six point four out of ten to eight point one out of ten for users who are learners in the highest institution of learning. Usability testing is pivotal in comprehending the experience of online users aligning with brand objectives. It is significant in highlighting problems experienced by real users of the web site. It is in addition to helping users get encouragement to think out loudly. Consultants learn much of their thoughts, behaviours, and expectations. Clients do not only seek to know where they are doing something but also reasons for doing what they do (Letnikova, 2003, p. 64). Usability testing ranks above other means of testing in outlining essential issues experienced by actual users. The method results in objective and accurate evaluation of sites as well as those under application. The usability testing plan Important elements required before embarking on the plan is getting the management, department, and customers. They constitute providers of the contents of the site. It is easier to get a plan on paper if the web development team takes the duty of developing content of the site. Other scholars refer to the web development team as the webmaster. The situation becomes even better if the owner of the website hires more people to handle the development compared to doing it from indoors (Way, 2010, p. 214). The team uses the usability testing plan to record and draw the steps to be followed by the implementing team, ways of carrying out the testing, important metrics aimed at capturing by the team, the number of users to use, as well as testing situations necessary for use during the testing exercise. Elements of testing necessary in this context include purpose, scope, equipment, logistics, metrics, and scenarios highlighted in the plan. Here, it is critical for the usability expert to engage the entire team to responsible for implementing the project to discuss important components of the plan. The next phase is for selected team members to draft the plan, then forward to the management, other team members, and even clients. The selected team must prepare a final plan that reflects all issues and procedures agreed upon by other stakeholders identified above. Carrying out the testing The next phase of the process is implementing the testing and it comes immediately after the approval of the plan. Users in the tests must be similar to the target clients. The testing schedule should also coincide with the availability, space needs, and logistics concerning location, equipment, as well as setting the testing scenarios for efficient use by participants. Getting Results Among other subjective and objective requirements, collected test metrics in the usability testing ought to include evaluation of the capacity of the user to complete identified tasks successfully. It is in addition to the duration taken by the user to carry out a particular task. Evaluation of Usability It constitutes the testing of updated and new services either before lunching or after launching. Usability evaluation introduces those using the sites to new design that also ensures that it remains instinctive while using and offers a positive experience to the user. It aims at highlighting likely issues that arise so that, the producer fixes them launching the product officially. Analysis of Results It is significant for any company to estimate the grade that its website would get if it carried out a usability test. Sometimes, owners of websites do not realize that their competitors keep testing their websites (Breeding, 2005, p. 27). It takes an average of only eleven seconds of their visit to determine whether to use or leave the site. It is possible to carry out usability testing in-house where the owner makes use of his or her resources. However, the owner could make use of outsourced or hired contractors to conduct the tests. There are companies that specialize in getting different websites back on track for those who hire their services. Besides being relevant for redesigned and new websites, usability testing is significant for existing web sites that owners have not take time to update them. Reporting Results It is significant for business owners to comprehend that expectations from customers as well as their experiences remain contemporary making it useful for them to keep their websites updated. In the modern business world that constitutes rapidly changing tastes, a website must meet customer expectations as those of other businesses. Great success for the customer entails getting the exact balance between the customer and the client. In the end, the organization, the client, and the system enjoy success. Organizations with limited budgets only require a usability plan in addition to efficient execution of the same plan crucial to receiving the right input to help in making decisions regarding the outcome of testing. In the process, it sets into an action plan to modify, twist, and on other occasions revamp the whole website following the findings. Merits of Usability Testing Usability testing comes with numerous advantages and include among others receiving one-on-one feedback from the end user, which the project team uses to redirect its focus, providing solutions to internal feuds through testing any issue to gauge the reaction of users to various alternatives in the pipeline, and identification of likely problems and issues before the official launch of products (Fagan, 2010, p. 61). Since business merits of usability testing come at the end of the project term, they increase the chances of usage as well as repetition usage; reduce the chances of the product failing on the market, and helping users achieve their targets and in the process allowing the business to meet the set objectives. Demerits Besides offering various advantages, usability testing carries along with its disadvantages. However few they are, demerits of usability testing exist. To begin with, it fails to have one hundred percentage representations of real life actions (Olson, 2007, p. 559). Furthermore, the testing is more of qualitative and less of quantitative. In this case, the process does not offer adequate samples of responses required in a standard questionnaire. However, the results remain insightful and with high-scale accuracy. Recommendations It is possible to use usability testing in different ways in the entire process of implementing a project. As much as it fails to exactly make use of real life situations, it is remains the best methodology of enhancing website supports those using them in meeting their targets easily and in very fast ways. Developing a successful service line for businesses depends on their ability to achieve their expectations and needs carried by their clients. Bibliography Doug Way, “The Impact of Web-Scale Discovery on the Use of a Library Collection,” Serials Review 36, no. 4 (2010): 214. Galina Letnikova, “Usability Testing of Academic Library Websites: A Selective Bibliography,” Internet Reference Services Quarterly 8, no. 4 (2003): 53–68. Jennifer L. Ward, Steve Shadle, and Pam Mofield, “User Experience, Feedback, and Testing,” Library Technology Reports 44, no. 6 (2008): 17. Jody Condit Fagan, “Usability Studies of Faceted Browsing: A Literature Review,” Information Technology & Libraries 29, no. 2 (2010): 58–66. Marshall Breeding, “Plotting a New Course for Metasearch,” Computers in Libraries 25, no. 2(2005): 27. Tod A. Olson, “Utility of a Faceted Catalogue for Scholarly Research,” Library Hi Tech25, no. 4(2007): 550–61. Read More