Usability Testing

Introduction

Without exception, every cycle of usability testing we have conducted for our clients has identified both issues and opportunities that only an actual user can reveal. Through live testing, we can overcome the inherent myopia and optimize your website or application.

The Problem

1. Familiarity with the content can obscure blindspots that are obvious to your users
2. Websites can unintentionally exclude a variety of user perspectives and abilities
3. Failure to invite your target audience into the creative process is a missed opportunity

Identifying the problem is the first step to solving it.

A user-centric design and development process produces superior results, so it is important to begin with your audience. Usability testing is handled remotely with screen-sharing and observation by the client and development team. Each suggestion and issue is noted and addressed accordingly.

The Benefits

• A more inclusive product reflecting a wider variety of users
• Improved efficiency of the development process
• Ability to test alternative strategies in a live environment

Discovery is the most important part of the process.

We listen, to you and to your users. For two decades the success of our firm is predicated on listening to our clients and their customers, and then building custom websites and applications to serve their needs. 

Our Approach

• Assessment of existing website and use cases
• Outline key website paths to develop a testing scenario
• Conduct remote usability testing with shared observation
• Identify issues and opportunities to address during subsequent development

We approach each session of testing objectively, to discover how particular users navigate your website or application. These invaluable insights then direct our development team to remove obstacles to each user’s path through the site. 

Every cycle of usability testing we have conducted has surprised our clients, and ourselves, with insightful knowledge that improved the end product. We also recognize the value of periodic testing to keep the website or application firing on all cylinders.

Examples

Usability Testing as an Iterative Process

Alternating sessions of usability testing with development allowed the rapid prototyping of alternative approaches with immediate user feedback. This innovative approach reduced the development time to deliver optimized results for the Greenroads Foundation for their user dashboard.

One Website to Serve All Users

As is typical of most websites, diverse user groups have particular needs for information. Crafting one website to serve each divergent need adequately was important to our client Theia Technologies, who manufactures and sells high performance lenses to a broad spectrum of industries. Including representatives from those key industries in the usability testing allowed us to discover how best to serve each.

The Human Aspect Lost in Analytics

Precisely because it is so easy to rely on the numbers provided by website analytics, important perspectives are lost when users are not involved in measuring a website’s performance. Usability testing allows us to learn the name and the unique needs of target users, thus providing key insights that are diluted in the aggregated traffic results.

Establishing a Baseline for Improvement

For one client, it was important to know just how poorly their current website was performing before beginning an extensive rebuild project. By testing how target users navigated the client’s existing website, our team was better able to improve the future website. Establishing the baseline on which the future website will be measured directed the process in an efficient and effective way.