> Usability Testing

Usability Testing Tips (12)

What is Keystroke Level Model (KLM)?
Keystroke analysis can be an important part of web design as it studies interface and task interaction to ensure users are performing website tasks in the most efficient way. Here you can learn more about this and how it contributes to a more usable and well designed site.

Communicating Usability Results
How usability results are communicated is an important and often over looked step in usability testing. This article focuses on tips on how to best present the results of usability tests.

Natural and Assumed Behavior in Usability Tests
Behavior in Usability Tests- No matter how hard moderators work to create natural behavior in users during usability tests, test participants will not act as they would at home, but there are certain behaviors that a moderator can assume of the participants in all user tests. Among others, users will be nervous and try harder to accomplish given goals.

How to Conduct a Cognitive Walkthrough
Cognitive Walkthrough- A usability test used to determine how easy or hard it is for a new user to accomplish tasks throughout the website. A Cognitive walkthrough can be used at any stage of the design process to help ensure increased usability. Tested elements are determined through a task analysis.

Getting Started with Paper Prototyping
Paper Prototyping- using paper prototypes is a great way to test your website designs in user tests. paper prototypes allow you to see how users interact with your web design before the full development of the web design. here are some great resources about paper prototyping

Online Survey Applications
online survey applications- There are many low cost online survey application options that can help you track your results. Performing an online survey is a good way to find information about your target audience when increasing usability.

Conducting a Card Sort
Card sorts are a useful tool in determining how information should be sorted on a website. Basically, a card sort allows users to group website content in ways that make sense to them. By conducting and analyzing a few rounds of card sorts, you can uncover a clear and useful information architecture.

Camtasia Studio for Testing Usability
Camtasia Studio- A Review of Camtasia Studio and how effective it is as an inexpensive and easy tool for Usability testing. Explores the pros and cons of the product.

Online Surveys for Usability Testing
Online surveys- Explains how and when to use online surveys as a part of website usability testing. While online usability surveys cannot replace direct interviews, they are very helpful in gathering information about your target audience and their habits on the web.

Morae Usability Testing Software
Morae Usability Testing Software- Review of pros and cons of the Morae Software. Discusses the advantages and disadvantages of using Morae Software for tracking and recording user tests performed on websites.

EZSort Application- A Review
EZSort review- A description of the EZSort application and its different compnents. Includes advantages to using EZSort as well as problems with the application and discusses its use in card sorts.

Use Cases- An Explanation
Use Cases Explanations- Explanations, descriptions, and definitions of Use cases and how use cases can be used to improve usability on websites. Includes information on how to create and what to include in a use case. Includes other resources to find more information on use studies.

Use Case
Use Case Definition- Description what is included and considered in a use case as well as how it is used to increase website usability.

Usability Resolutions for 2007
Website Usability goals- some Resolutions for improving the usability of your website in the new year. Includes goals as well as approaches and easy steps to successful website usability.

Usability Testing- An Overview
Usability Tests- usability testing overview for website tests. Includes information on methods of testing usability, strategy on testing usability, and techniques of usability testing.

Heuristic Evaulation Step-by-Step
Heuristic Analysis- Steps of a Heuristic Evaluation from preparation to evaluating your website to analyzing the results of the Heuristic Evaluation.

Heuristic Evaluation
Heuristic evaluations (sometimes called heuristic analysis) involves having a set of usability experts identify usability problems within a website without carrying out a user test. In heuristic evaluations, the experts simply walk through the website or other design solutions and identify the problems.

All About Usbility Testing
Usability tests are always a good way to see how others visiting your site will see it and interact with your design. We use them everyday whether we conduct them ourselves or not. These are the tests that create best practice standards. Usability tests provide us with much more information than might be apparent at first glance. They help one to explore not only what is failing, but why it may be failing—a piece of data far more valuable than just another number.

Fatal Usability Issues
Fatal usability issues, sometimes called severe usability problems, are the worst news you can receive from a usability study. These issues are considered so damaging to the user experience that they absolutely must be fixed before the software product or website can be launched.

Measuring Usability Scientifically
There are many ways to go about user testing, but can usability be measured scientifically? Can we compare the usability of two websites, or two version of the same website, with any precision? Can we measure usability quantitatively to help steer decisions about which products or processes are worth supporting?

Usability Testing How-To: Overview
Usability testing involves identifying key tasks performed on your web site and observing real users in a controlled environment as they complete them. This is the first of a series of articles designed to illustrate how to perform usability testing for a web site.

Usability Testing How-To: Developing a Testing Strategy
This is the second article in a series on running usability tests. It focuses on usability testing strategy. To get the best best actionable results from your tests, you'll need to decide on when to run tests and which types to use.

Usability Testing How-To: Recruiting Participants
Recruiting the right usability test participants will dramatically improve your results. Your source for participants will depend on the type of test you're running, the goals of the test, and your budget.

Usability Testing How-To: What to Test and How to Test It
What to usability test and how to usability test it are two questions you should ask yourself before you get started. Two of your major considerations are selecting common tasks and then choosing which tasks will give you the best usability payoff.

Usability Testing, Focus Groups, and Quality Assurance
For anyone new to usability, the differences between usability testing, focus groups, and quality assurance are not always clear. All three are techniques for producing a better web site, but each focuses on different areas of improvement, and each is applicable at a different stage of the design process.

Conducting a Usability Test
Conducting a good usability test requires planning, recruiting of participants, developing test materials, and more. The University of Texas at Austin's guide to usability testing provides a good overview of the process and enough information for you to get started with your own tests. For

How (much) to Intervene in a Usability Testing Session
There is some debate on how much to intervene in a usability test. Should you stop them to ask questions? Should you help them when they run into problems? Or should you simply observe?

Paper Prototyping
Paper Prototyping is a method for quickly user testing a rough design and often involves quick changes based on feedback. UsabilityNet's Paper Prototyping profile is a good place for starting to learn about the method. You may also want to look at Jared Spool's advocacy of paper prototyping, and Usability.gov's overview of all prototyping methods.

Usability Testing FAQ at Usability.gov
Usability.gov provides an excellent Usability Testing FAQ, as well as suggestions for the first steps you can take toward running a test on your site.

Usability Testing Labs
Finding a good space to conduct a usability test is important. If you're just starting out, a minimal lab will do well. You can also find labs you can rent in major cities.