Have you ever asked these questions?

• I wonder if my website is really working?
• Why are we getting all this traffic, but no one is buying anything?
• Why do customers get to the checkout and then not “checkout”?
• Where are my calls? I’m sure to have calls from all this traffic!
• Why can’t my customer find this piece of information?
• Why do customers call me up and ask me stuff clearly outlined on my website?

Chances are, you will benefit from Usability Testing. Let’s put it another way: we have never seen a website that could not benefit from Usability Testing.

What is it?

Does navigation sometimes look like this to customers?

Usability Testing (UT) is a method to test websites on functionality, how ‘user-friendly’ the site is to use. UT can be performed on almost anything, including programs, phone interfaces, a broom, whatever. We focus specifically on websites – so your customer finds what they want, fast. The testing is usually in a controlled environment, with one ‘customer’ and one tester, in front of a computer.

UT is frequently overlooked by companies spending tens of thousands of dollars on a website, because most websites seem so easy to use already. But testing proves that not to be the case. The biggest culprit for this observation is from companies and their developers spending hours upon hours looking at a design, and therefore navigating a developing website is easy for them. But for a customer just entering the site, bad navigation, even slightly less than optimal navigation, could be the difference between leaving or staying, much less buying something.

How do you use it? (The Application)

UT attempts to increase…

• Performance, or how much time and energy is spent finding something?
• Accuracy, how many mistakes are made while navigating, would that ‘customer’ leave?
• Recall, does the customer remember where they were, after a short or long break?
• Positive Emotional response, summed up in asking, “Would you use this site, or recommend it to a friend?”

Ever ask yourself, 'Where does this button go?'

Why it’s so important (The Result)

• Increases user experience considerably (between “this site sucks” to “I’ll buy from them!”)
• Increases site retention (how long a browser stays on a website before leaving)
• Increases conversion (how many purchases, calls or leads are made)
• Uncovers simple design flaws that are sometimes be easily fixed – with little time or money
• Feeds back to you information about your customers
• Spurs web development, both in content building and ease of use (navigation)

Conclusion: The results from UT can be staggering to a company – many problems surface quickly and often. Our customers have made comments like, “Wow, dodged a bullet there,” or “I’m going to kill my web designer.” Sometimes the results are so obvious, it’s painful.

Example

Let’s get interactive:

1. Grab just ONE PERSON that has NEVER seen your website.
2. Ask them to find something on your website – could be a particular product, or an article on something important, or a certain benefit of your company.
3. Try to get then to talk out loud on what they are seeing or how they are thinking.
4. Let the games begin.

Try to be challenging about your website questions; nothing too obvious, and something that will make you money, or get you a call, or a lead.

Make the questions leading: “Where is Product A? Can you see it? No? Could you find it for me? Be sure to talk out loud when you navigate, let me know what you’re thinking. OK, found it? Good. Was it tough to find? No? OK, let’s say you want this product. Why would you buy it? You wouldn’t? Why? What information is missing? OK, how do you add it to the shopping cart?” Rinse. Repeat.

5 subjects, 4 hours, no money = SUCCESS.

Many organizations have spent a lot of money developing a website, and if you have too, it might be tough to hear the feedback. But it’s absolutely essential that you uncover problems with your website – because your customers aren’t going to tell you.

Now, go do it with 4 other subjects. Why? It’s the Rule of 5 in testing theory – 5 subjects in almost any testing will eliminate about 80-90% of all problems – whether it’s a website, a broom, a new phone, a door, whatever.

Usability testing pitfalls

UT won’t work unless you are willing to revamp your website. Many times we find clients resisting our suggestions, even though ultimately they will make a lot more money, simply because it’s tough to ’start over again’. Watch out for these emotional snags:

• Not doing UT because afraid of the results (much like a doctor’s appointment)
• Asking simple questions – give them something tough to do!
• Not getting subject to express themselves well
• Not allowing subject to ‘wander’ a little
• Not getting the right target audience (demographic)

How we help

TAC can plug in at many levels for you. We can simply consult you on how to run your own campaign. We can also do a more in-depth training of Usability Testing. Or, we can do it for you. See below:

Applicable products from TAC

• Usability Testing 101 (Training): Usability Testing is so powerful, you’ll wonder why you’ve never done it before. We have never seen a customer that hasn’t doubled their sales and increased the quality + quantity of leads in just 4 short hours of testing… for FREE. Ever wondered (or feared) if your website is really working? Are you turning away the perfect customer because they can’t find something? Is your website “sticky”? With some simple tactical testing, you can uncover hidden problems in websites and gain a better understanding about the needs of your customer, all at once. In addition, it will cut your costs of future website development in ways you’d never imagine.
• Usability Testing: We’ll build you a testing audience and report to you our findings – giving you real direction on how to make your website more sticky, useful, and profitable. Usability testing, as stated above, is an incredible tool to help ‘build out’ your website to your customer’s needs. This directly translates into sales, regardless of your industry, product or service.

Your call to action

If you have questions about specifics of Usability Testing, don’t hesitate to call

• Article: Advanced by Steve Krug
• Contact us