Usability
In this section, we will focus on the concept of Usability Testing as it applies to websites. As you will learn, Usability Testing is essential for creating and designing websites for the modern-day web developer. Usability Testing is a process that involves a user completing tasks without any prior knowledge or experience dealing with a potential site. The user will then evaluate their experience with a website and its ease of use. A resource frequently mentioned in this section will be an hour-long video presentation done by a Usability Testing expert named Steve Krug. Krug has over 20 years of experience with usability testing and has written several books on the topic. In the video presentation, he gives an overview of the concept of usability testing and also conducts a live usability test for viewers to observe why usability testing is so important.
Chapter 1: Starting Usability Testing by DeWayne Robey, Chapters 2: Usability Testing on Your New Website! by Annie Lara, and Chapter 3: Why YOU Should be Doing Usability Testing by Laura Neilsen all provide a complete overview of Steve Krug’s Usability Test video. These chapters also provide the reader with the basic foundations of conducting a usability test, what its purpose is, and why you need to know about it. This will include the definition of the term, when to usability test, and how usability testing affects user experience.
Chapter 4: It is as easy as 1-2-3! by Noemi Ayala gives a summary of usability testing while also providing a resource for the different ways a person or organization can conduct a usability test. This resource also gives web developers some tips on conducting a quick and easy usability test for fast feedback on a project. This resource is to provide the user with an alternative usability testing style to the ones provided by Steve Krug’s video presentation.
Chapter 5: Save the Baby, Not the Bathwater: Tweaking and Usability by Christina Loos goes deeper into the topic of usability testing by providing an alternative example than what we have seen in previous chapters. It provides a personal example of how the fonts and spaces used in a Tumblr theme can make a difference to a user’s experience with a site. This chapter mostly touched on one of Krug’s most important points about usability tests, and it’s that tweaking small things can make a big difference.
Chapter 6: Can You Find Your Way Home? by Amanda Perkins provides the user with a source of what kinds of questions to ask in a usability test to get necessary feedback for your site. This can help to ensure the test administrator gets effective and accurate feedback from the testing participant. This chapter also provides us with another real-life usability test situation, this time referencing a WordPress theme Laura has used for her personal site.
Chapter 7: Take Time to Usability Test explains one key reason why Usability Testing is crucial for web developers; you (the web developer) are not your customer. This chapter then goes on to compare two different kinds of usability testing. Moderated usability testing is put against unmoderated usability testing with a comparative pros and cons list. Next, we find resources on how to know which type of testing is best for you and your app or website.
Lastly, Chapter 8: The Benefits of Usability Testing for a Business Website by Leah Alonzo, explains three key benefits to the web designer or organization whose site is being tested for usability. Knowing the benefits of usability is crucial to understanding how your website design affects the user experience of your site visitors.
