A guide to web usability and how to use it

By Simon, 9 March, 2010, 1 Comment

In my opinion web usability is the single most important part of any new design and yet it is the most overlooked (or completely ignored) part of any project. So what is “web usability” and how do you do usability testing?

The first thing to understand is that people do not enter a page and look at everything you place on the page. We all speed read and even more so if you’re looking to buy something. They don’t want to read about how great your company is; they just want to find the link that will take them to the page that sells the thing they want. There are exceptions to this like blogs and news websites but if you’re selling or promoting you will have to accept people will not spend any time digesting the content on your page.

Usability, in its simplest form, is making sure the visitor can find the information or link they need in the quickest and easiest way achievable.

I have done extensive A/B and usability testing on sites and in all cases the simpler I made the page the more sales that site produced. When I say simpler I’m not saying that the page should look like something from the 90’s. I’m saying that too many websites have too much clutter on a page which distracts the user from their goal. I would like to give you an example of a before and after and see what you think…

Old version - Click to enlarge

The site in the example above was launched in 2004 selling locksmith tools. There are a number of different products and quite a number of different sections. In this site the visitor was often overwhelmed and unsure where to start. To find out exactly what they wanted required a lot of reading. There was too much text and too many choices which caused confusion.

Now look at the re-vamped version I launched last year:

New version. Click to visit web site

I knew what kind of tool the person would be looking for so we broke down the sections into the main 3 categories and clicking on one of those buttons took them to a slightly more detailed level two page. I stripped out all the clutter and what remains focuses the visitor on exactly their needs. Visually it is a big improvement but everything on the page is there for a reason. “Just because you can doesn’t mean you should” is the philosophy I live by.

How to usability test

One tester is still better than none.

Usability testing isn’t the complicated beast you many think it is. Even having one person go over your site can often pick up things you simply wouldn’t believe that person would do. I would suggest 2 to 5 testers but honestly even one is better than none!

What you need is someone who is familiar with the net but who isn’t deeply involved in it. Don’t ask other web designers for a review because they will probably have deeply entrenched views on design but have absolutely no idea on how good or bad the usability behind their views are. You’re looking for a friend or family member who surfs but doesn’t design.

I also wouldn’t worry about getting people of the targeted age group. My brother Dan is 30 and has been using the net for just a few months. In other words he’s almost completely useless working things out online. There will be plenty of Dan’s in your targeted bracket so I really don’t believe that targeted usability testing is anymore reliable or successful because you never know how skilled the person in that bracket is. Unless your site is precisely targeted (a web design forum full of highly skilled net experts for example) you will need to target a much broader range than you might otherwise think.

To do the testing you need some pre-determined tasks for the tester to complete and before you start you need to ask them to talk out loud about what they doing or trying to do.

If you’re selling an example would be:

“The site I’m going to show you is a website which sells tee-shirts. I would like you to purchase a humorous tee-shirt for a friend who loves fishing. You can use these credit card details (hand test details). I would like you to talk out loud about what you’re trying to find or do.”

If you’re promoting an example would be:

“The site I’m going to show you is a solicitor’s website. I would like you to find any information you can about wills and if they do have this service I would like you find out how much it would cost and how you can get an appointment. I would like you to talk out loud about what you’re trying to find or do.”

What you’re looking for is how the journey was made and why that route was chosen. You can ignore all cosmetic comments like “I’ve always liked blue sites better than green”. These can be ignored because it’s a personal choice comment and not a usability issue. You’re looking for comments like “I always use search boxes on sites to find what I want but it took me a while to spot theirs in the middle of the page. I’m used to them being at the top of the page” or something like “I was going to contact the solicitor using their form but I hate filling out more than three or four boxes. I really wouldn’t fill in so many details just for a will”.

It is these nuggets of information that will often show you weaknesses in the design or journey path.

The test should take no more than 30 minutes and I would suggest recording the test if you can via a camcorder or an onscreen video and voice recorder. You don’t have to do this but you may miss vital information while you scribble things down. Try not to say much during the testing and let them do the talking. If you don’t mention to them what you will change you can always ask them back and repeat the process. Once you have completed the changes it would also be worth trying one more tester to see if anything else may have been missed.

Getting someone to sit in front of a computer for half an hour won’t cost you much and I would suggest that you ask the client to pay for some testing to really get the most out of the site.

This is a very big subject and one which I have a very keen interest in. This post is too short to go in-depth but I hope I’ve covered the basics.

(Simon has been using his usability knowledge on websites for the last 5 years and has been able to get bounce rates into single figures and increasing sales by combining usability testing with A/B testing and heat-mapping)