Usability Audience

Last week, I was an observer in six usability lab tests performed by Bridgeline Denver for one of our clients, who is redesigning their current Web site.  Observing real people interact with a Web site is very enlightening because when you observe real users, you learn first-hand if a Web site’s information architecture and design are easy to use.  Over the years, managing online channels and working at a company providing digital Web solutions, I have learned many things, but the two most important lessons I have learned are:

1. If users cannot use a Web site easily, they will abandon and never become customers. With so many options online today, nobody is willing to struggle in understanding how to perform a task or get the information they need.
2. The only opinion that matters about a Web site are the users.  They are the audience.  If they are unhappy or frustrated, that matters.  A Web site must be built to the audience, not the Vice President of Marketing, the CEO or even the Web Designer.  It is all about the user.

These lessons seem so simple, right?  But if they are, then why don’t more Managers of Web sites conduct usability tests when planning a new Web site or redesigning an existing Web site to find out what users think? I feel the answer is pressure and budgets.  They are under pressure to get a Web site live and that can make it feel impossible to add the extra time and budget needed for user interviews and a usability test.  However, can anyone afford to launch a Web site that is difficult to use , in which users cannot achieve their goals?  What is the cost of failure?  Take my advice – you want to involve potential users throughout the design phase. By understanding what potential users want, you can create a Web site that is easy to use for them.

There are several ways to test ease of use, but I recommend keeping it simple with something like usability lab testing.  For this, we recruit users that match the profile of your potential users and observe and record them interacting with your Web site. We create test scenarios that will take users through a series of tasks on your Web site.  For example, if your site was an e-commerce site and sold widgets, we may present participants a scenario that they are looking for a B sized widget and ask them how they would go about ordering one.  As they perform the tasks, we ask for and record their feedback as well as their interaction with the Web site.  In essence, we are recording what the user is doing online, his/her facial expressions and his/her verbal expression of his/her thought process. This testing allows us to measure success of task completion and uncover issues you may never have anticipated with your Web site. For example, you may discover that the copy used on a page creates confusion or the location of a button goes unnoticed.  These things seem simple and be perceived as not major issues, but they can be the difficulties that cause a user to abandon your Web site and go to a competitor.  At the end of the usability, we can provide copies of the recordings, notes from each session and a report detailing recommendations to improve ease of use for your Web site.

Best of all, when kept simple, usability testing can be very affordable. We have done tests that even include paper prototyping, where we just show potential user either wireframes of a proposed Web site or mockups of a Web site design.  We have even done informal click-model testing that involves linking the HTML for a Web site together before it is built.  Now, these are not as powerful as having a user go through an actual Web site, but they are great alternatives to a tight budget or a tight timeline.  Usability testing does not need to ‘fancy’ to be effective.  What it does do is reveal the roadblocks on your Web site. Remember, you want a Web site built for your intended users, not you.  Your user is your customer and they are the person that matters most.  Take some time to make sure your Web site is meeting your customers’ needs today because if you do not, I am sure there is a competitor who is or will.

An example of a User Persona Matrix