Conducting Your Own Usability Testing

Usability testing is very useful for determining where visitors might run into problems with your website. It enables the webmaster to make corrections and enhancements so future visitors do not have the same problem.

To do this, you want to bring in someone how has not seen the particular website before. While input from people who already have visited your site can be useful, conducting usabilty testing on him or her will give them an edge since they are already familiar with the most important components of the usability test.

If you are unsure about what to test for, please see The Usability Checklist.

Sit the tester down at the computer, and have him or her navigate to the main page of your site. You can either have a list of what you would like the tester to do, or you can just let her loose to surf around.

Encourage her to talk out loud, if she doesn't begin to tell you about her thoughts.

Do keep your own replies to a minimum. "Well, i was planning to do this and that but haven't had time" has no use for the tester. Be sure all the "planning to do" is completed prior to bringing a tester in, or limit the testing to only completed sections. You shouldn't interupt unless absolutely neccessary.

Try not to hover and make your tester feel uncomfortable. Some companies use video cameras or recording webcams during testing, to go back and confirm where the problems and issues arose.

Watch for facial expressions if possible. They can be a giveaway if your tester runs into problems, even if they try and figure it out before saying anything.

When the testing is over, ask for the testers thoughts. At this phase, the tester can likely provide more in depth comments on problems, and what she sees as possible solutions for them.

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