take action: usability testing

"You're supposed to correct my spelling, not criticize my use of symbolic imagery!"

"Testing one user is 100% better than testing none."

Steve Krug

Sooner or later, every web designer learns the same simple lesson: For a site to succeed, visitors must be able to use it. And this simple requirement is the driving force behind web design. Nearly every decision has to take usability into account.

"Forgetting about usability on the web is like forgetting about the plot in a movie," said designer Jeffrey Zeldman (www.zeldman.com). "If there's no usability, there's no site."

And while good designers always keep usability in mind, you can never know for sure how a site will be used, until you see people interact with it. That's where usability testing comes in.

Usability testing gives you a chance to see real people use your site in a way that simulates the user experience. As users navigate your site and attempt to complete a given task, you (or your tester) can ask questions: Do they understand what the labels mean, where the links lead, and what the buttons do? Does the interface work the way they think it will work? Can they complete a given task?

By watching volunteers attempt to interpret, navigate, and generally use your site, you get a painfully clear picture of what works and what doesn't in your design.

You'll find that nothing is as powerful or as instructive as watching real users struggle with your site. And struggle they will. No matter how good your initial design or how talented your product team, some aspect of your interface be it the navigation system, the labels, or the sequencing of events will invariably confuse your users.

Things happen in usability testing that you can never predict.

"Things happen in usability testing that you can never predict," says Doug Bowman, former design director for HotWired and Terra-Lycos. "What you think is so painfully obvious and clear might be the most difficult thing in the world for five users in a row to figure out."

5 types of usability tests

1. task-oriented tests

   The standard usability test is a task-oriented test of a working site. Volunteers are given specific tasks to accomplish while an observer records their reactions and results.

2. over-the-shoulder observation

   Rather than bringing volunteers to a test computer, it can be useful to observe people in their natural online environment whether it's at home or in a cubicle. This is a more anthropological approach to user testing, one that gets you as close to the actual user experience as possible. You get a more complete picture, including the clutter on their desks, and the goings-on around them: phone ringing, baby crying, co-workers interrupting, and so on.

3. open exploration

   Certain types of sites can benefit from less-directed user tests. Rather than giving volunteers a specific task, you simply set them down in front of your site and see what happens. This is most appropriate for immersive, entertainment-oriented sites like games.

4. eye tracking

   Eye-tracking tests give you an extraordinarily detailed picture of how users scan web sites and where their eyes fall. Using special cameras pointing at the users' eyes, researchers can follow where users actually look rather than where their cursor is or what they say they're looking at.

5. paper prototypes

   Very early in the design process, it can be helpful to put simple paper prototypes in front of users. These early tests can help uncover user reactions to the site name and basic layout: Do people understand what the site is? Do they understand intuitively what they can do there, and how?