{"id":520,"date":"2010-11-05T09:00:12","date_gmt":"2010-11-05T17:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.numinix.com\/blog\/?p=520"},"modified":"2019-05-30T10:55:51","modified_gmt":"2019-05-30T17:55:51","slug":"usability-testing-the-key-to-improving-your-website","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.numinix.com\/blog\/usability-testing-the-key-to-improving-your-website\/","title":{"rendered":"Usability Testing: The Key To Improving Your Website"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>How well a visitor to your website is able to move around it and accomplish the tasks it was designed for will not only increase their likelihood of completing a purchase, but it will also determine how often they return, and increase the number of people they tell about your website.\u00a0\u00a0 The best way to make sure that your site is working properly and effectively is to conduct usability testing throughout the entire design process, and beyond.\u00a0 If you have never done usability testing, you probably have some questions.\u00a0 Hopefully by the end of this post I will have answered those and helped you to see how usability testing is the key to improving your website.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_80 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"#\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.numinix.com\/blog\/usability-testing-the-key-to-improving-your-website\/#What_is_Usability_Testing\" >What is Usability Testing?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"#\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.numinix.com\/blog\/usability-testing-the-key-to-improving-your-website\/#Why_is_Usability_Testing_Important\" >Why is Usability Testing Important?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"#\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.numinix.com\/blog\/usability-testing-the-key-to-improving-your-website\/#Is_Usability_Testing_Expensive\" >Is Usability Testing Expensive?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"#\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.numinix.com\/blog\/usability-testing-the-key-to-improving-your-website\/#How_Do_I_Do_It\" >How Do I Do It?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"#\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.numinix.com\/blog\/usability-testing-the-key-to-improving-your-website\/#When_Should_I_Test\" >When Should I Test?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_is_Usability_Testing\"><\/span>What is Usability Testing?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Usability testing can be simply defined as observing people using your website. It helps you identify issues by watching people complete common tasks.\u00a0 Then you simply fix the issues.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_is_Usability_Testing_Important\"><\/span>Why is Usability Testing Important?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>It helps you make your website more useful for people<\/li>\n<li>It helps you make your website\u00a0 more easy to use by people<\/li>\n<li>Most importantly, it makes people want to visit your website<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Is_Usability_Testing_Expensive\"><\/span>Is Usability Testing Expensive?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>It doesn&#8217;t have to be.\u00a0 All that is required is at least one computer with access to your site, time for observation, and 5-8 volunteers that you will recruit.\u00a0 Your biggest expense will likely be your own time and gifts\/incentives for the participants.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_Do_I_Do_It\"><\/span>How Do I Do It?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>I will provide a detailed step-by-step for conducting a usability test in a future blog, but here is a brief outline:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Gather your stakeholders and figure out what tasks you want the testers to attempt to accomplish.\u00a0 Alternatively, you could conduct a survey with users to develop this task list.<\/li>\n<li>Recruit your volunteers.\u00a0 This can be the most difficult task.\u00a0 Offer them an opportunity to help you.\u00a0 Make sure they know it is your site that is being tested and not themselves.\u00a0 The key is that these people have to be selected from within your customer demographic.<\/li>\n<li>Conduct the testing session.<\/li>\n<li>Brainstorm ideas for improvement based on the results of the testing session.<\/li>\n<li>Implement improvement ideas as quickly as possible.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"When_Should_I_Test\"><\/span>When Should I Test?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>You should conduct usability testing as early in the design process as possible.\u00a0 It should continue throughout every phase of design and roll-out.\u00a0 You should also conduct periodic tests once the site is up and running to address any issues that may arise.<\/p>\n<p>I hope that I have answered most of your basic questions about usability testing.\u00a0 If you haven&#8217;t done a test in awhile, or perhaps not at all, make sure you do it.\u00a0 It is the best way to provide the most functional, and enjoyable experience for the visitors to your site.<\/p>\n<p><script type=\"application\/ld+json\">\n      {\n        \"@context\": \"http:\/\/schema.org\",\n        \"@type\": \"NewsArticle\",\n\t\"dateModified\": \"https:\/\/calendar.google.com\/calendar\/r\/day\/2019\/5\/29\",\n\t\"mainEntityOfPage\": 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and increase the number of people they tell about your website.\u00a0\u00a0 The best way to&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[639,27,52,222],"class_list":["post-520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-usability","tag-usability","tag-usability-test","tag-usability-testing","tag-what-is-usability"],"modified_by":"Numinix 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