Services / New Media / Web Usability Testing

Here’s a piece of information worth noting:

Research shows that approximately 50% of potential sales can be lost through a poorly designed website.
Source: Forrester Research. 2004

By poorly designed we’re not talking about a “pretty website”, more importantly, a well-designed user-friendly site. A site that makes it easy and quick for visitors to find what they want and act on it.

We have worked with both private enterprise and government departments to test website usability. We believe that a website must not only look good, it has to be very user-friendly.

What’s Involved?

A standard web usability test involves a qualitative approach. The methodology includes:

• Test participants. Usually a focus group representing the target market or markets for your website. We will recruit the necessary participants.
• Computer lab setup. We run the focus groups in a computer lab style classroom with broadband internet connections.
• Pre-set Tasks. We establish a number of tasks that the focus group/s must undertake.
• Discussion. At the end of the set tasks, we undertake an open discussion with the group/s.
• Review. Each of the focus groups’ responses are reviewed and tabulated.
• Report & Recommendation. The final outcome is presented as a report with all results and recommendations.

Standard user tests are the simplest of all usability methods and provide quality data and insights into how best to develop your website.

We recommend that you conduct usability testing at multiple stages of your projects, but even a single test will significantly increase the quality of your user experience.

For further information about web usability testing contact Joseph Podosky on (07) 3337 7904 or email joe@nvpone.com